F 
545 
l36 




't''-'X"2i,ni 



THE 



lllhicis (Central |lail-^oalr Compiiii 



OFFERS FOR SALE 




OTER tS,000,000 ACRES 

SELKOTED 

\ FARMING AND WOOD LANDS, 

J\ IN TRACTS OF FOKTT ACR^S AND TJPWAKDS, TO SUIT PUKOIIASEEP. 



Long Credits and at Low Hates of Interest. 



I 



ON EACH SIBE OF THEIR RA/L-KOaD, EXTEVDING ALL THE WAT FROM THE 
EXTREME yORTH TO THE SOUTH OF THE 

STATE OF ILLINOIS. 



JOHN W . A M E R M A N , P }M N T K R , 
iso. CO "William-street. 








Glass T t) "1 ^; 

Book JllO. 






imiilllSIfi 

EXPLANATION 

_^__ T'l Ji in Operatiojx 
K.K.^^llg'^essiag 

Scale, 45 miles Lq one Incli 

't/ij- Arinr xJin/iwi/ .r<4/»«w Ac imiinroir oflhc (unrf.i 
ii/'lJlc Illinois CnUmJ /lai/ Kcarl Cvinfiany.u-il/Ult Ihr 
.t'.'i- iiiilr limif. T/ir lifllll .shaAiu/ Otr />nl< rid^f)^- 
o/f/ieir /.ir/i/lxuitliin. //u- /i^lff" t"'i'' 'J"'il. 

n, Xi>i„f>,rr,/Vir Tlm-K.^/ir/is /"vnicr/tr/ 
pu/ii/'i «//Ji l/i,- niiiu/xr o/'rnrh Scr/iorirr/ Miif. 

Limnt Jco.C Kind i Avery, Bbsioh 





Lith of Ed Mendii('thic»e,o 




jmj -j---.----^ -^ - --■ - 
'M ^' CEIS-TRALi^l 



Iiii»^; 



/ 



THE 



IKiuois tfriitriil |lail-|l{icilr (!;i}m]pan2 



OFFERS FOR SALE 



OVER 2,000,000 ACHES 



SELECTED 



FAMING AND WOOD LANDS, 

m TRACTS OF FORTY ACEES AND UPWAKD3, TO SUIT PUKCHASEES, 



ON 

LONG CREDITS, AND AT LOW RATES OF INTEREST, 

SITUATED 

OSr EACH SIDE OF THEIR RAIL-ROAD, EXTENDING ALL THE ■VTAY FROM THB 
EXTREME NORTH TO THE SOUTH OF THE 

STATE OF ILLINOIS. 



\f ^ftD-Dork: 



^^t&fy °^ Con^^ 



•''©^V/asHioC'^--" 



JOHN W. AMERMAN, PRINTER, 

No. 60 WlLLIAM-STaKIT. 

1856. 

r 



jI'oxK — It has beea found impossible to answer the large number of letters that 
are daily received in reference to these Lands. To such this Pamphlet will be seat 
in reply to the questions asked. 






2,000,000 ACRES 

ILLINOIS CENTRAL U. R. LANDS. 

NOTICE TO PURCHASERS. 

The lands offered for sale by the Illinois Central Rail-Road Company 
were granted by the United States to the State of Illinois by the act 
of 20th September, 1850. All the conditions stipulated in that act 
have been fulfilled, and the title to these lands can no longer be afiected 
by legislation. 

By the act of 10th February, 1851, the State of Illinois_ incorporated 
this Company, and directed the Governor to convey to said Company,, 
by a deed in fee simple, all of said lands, &c., which was done. 

The said act further required said Company to execute a deed of 
trust of all of said lands, &c., to certain persons named therein by the 
State, to secure the performance of the conditions and stipulations re- 
quired thereby. The bonds issued under this trust are being paid as 
fast as the money is received from the sale of the lands, set apart for 
.that purpose. All bonds received for lands, or purchased with the pro- 
ceeds of such lands, are officially cancelled by the trustees. 

Where payment is made in full, the purchaser at once obtains his 
title from the trustees appointed by the State. If the sale is on credit, 
however, the title is not given till final payment is made, but the pur- 
chaser receives a contract, stipulating that such title will be given on 
full payment, and compliance with the conditions specified therein. 
Each payment for lands sold on credit can be made in Construction 
Bonds or cash ; and if in the latter, it is applied to the purchase of such 
bonds ; and the particular tract is at once exempted from liability, and 
a perfect title given by the trustees— being, in fact, the first conveyance 
under the authority of the General Government. 

The sales are made under the direction of the trustees, and are author- 
ized by an act of the State legislature. The lands thus sold are exempted 
from taxation by said law of the State till finally paid for. 

The trustees execute deeds for all lands sold ; and the conveyance by 
said trustees, in the terms of the law, is " an absolute title hi fee simple," 
and operates " as a release or an acquittance of the particular tract or 
tracts so sold from all liability or incumbrance on account of said deed 
of trust, and the issue of said bonds— so as to' vest in the purchasers a 
complete and indefeasible title." 

Thus it is seen, that the act of Congress making the grant secures the 
title in purchasers, whatever may be the action of the State ; and the 
law of the State incorporating this Company, while amply securing 
the bondholders, is alike careful to protect purchasers of the lands, and 
to secure to them perfect and complete titles in any and every contm- 

p-ency. 

^ JOHN WILSON, 

Land Commissioner Illinois Central R. R, Co. 

Chicago^ June 20, 185G. 

Office in Illinois Central R. R. Depot, Chicago, III. 



THE RAIL-ROAD ROUTE. 

The Road commences at Dunleith, a town on the 
Mississippi river, in the extreme northwest of the State, 
opposite the city of Dubuque, in Iowa. It passes south 
16 miles through Galena, the centre of the great lead 
region of the West. Then easterly 50 miles, after which 
. it takes a southerly course in an almost straight line to 
Cairo, the extreme southern point of the State. Cairo 
is situated at the junction of the Ohio and Mississi]3pi 
rivers, and is the point at which produce and merchan- 
dise are exchanged with the numerous steamboats navi- 
gating these great rivers. A branch of the road leaves 
the main line at Centralia, 118 miles above Cairo, diverg- 
ing to the northeast, and terminating at Chicago, on 
Lake Michigan. 

Two daily passenger trains are now running between 
Dunleith and Cairo, as also between Chicago and Dun- 
leith, and Chicago and Cairo, besides numerous freight 
trains as required by the varying business of the Road. 

The "Dixon Air Line," "Chicago, Burlington and 
Quincy," " Rock Island," " Chicago, Alton and St. Louis," 
" Great Western," " Terre Haute and Alton," and " Ohio 
and Mississippi" Rail-Roads, are all now in running order, 
east and west across the State, all connecting with the 
"Illinois Central Rail-Road," at various points. In ad- 
dition to the above, the "Fort Wayne and Lacon," 
"Extension of Peoria and Oquawka," and "Atlantic 
and Mississippi Rail-Roads," now in course of construc- 
tion, also connect with the " Illinois Central," and open 
up the entire State, at short distances apart. By com- 
pleting 650 miles of North and South road, this Company 
has formed connections with all these East and West 
roads, enabling passengers or freight to reach any part 



of this State or tlie United States, with the greatest 
expedition. 

At every ten miles throughout its entire length, com- 
modious station and freight houses have been erected, 
and around almost every one of these, villages are rapidly 
springing up ; many of them already containing a popu- 
lation of from 500 to 2,500 persons, where, two years ago, 
there was not a single house. The road is built in the 
most superior manner, and is stocked with the very 
best locomotive engines, passenger and freight cars. 
Charges for transportation of passengers and freight are 
moderate. 



LOCATION OF THE LANDS. 

The lands are situated on each side of the Rail-Road 
between Dunleith and Cairo, on the main line, and Chi- 
cago and Centralia on the Chicago branch. Traversing 
the entire State from north to south, it therefore passes 
through a great variety of climates, and purchasers are 
enabled to suit their inclinations in their selections. 
The road passes immediately over some of the lands; 
others vary in distance from it, from one to fifteen miles. 



PRICES AND TERMS OF PAYMENT. 

The prices vary from $5 to $25 per acre, according to 
location, quality, distance from stations, villages, &c. 
Contracts for deeds may be made until further notice; 
stipulating the purchase money to be made in five pay- 
ments, each with the succeeding year's interest added in 
advance. The first payment to be made in two years 
from the date of the contract, and the others annually 
thereafter. 

Interest will he charged at only three ]jer cent, per an- 



num. As a security for the performance of the contract, 
the first two years' interest must be paid in advance. 
For instance, suppose you buy on the 1st of March, 
1856, eighty acres of selected prairie land, at $10 per acre, 
on the foregoing terms. Your account, until a deed is 
given, would stand thus : 

March 1, 1856. Received contract for a Deed for 80 Acres of 
Land, at $10 per acre, ($800,) and paid two years' 
Interest, at three per cent, per annum, in advance, . $48 00 
•' " 1868. Paid first instalment of principal, being 

one-fifth of $800 $160 00 

One year's Interest in advance on balance 
due, ($640,) at three per cent, per annum, . 19 20 — 179 20 
" " 1859. Paid second instalment, being one-fifth 

as above, 160 00 

One year's Interest in advance on balance 

due, ($480,) as above, 14 40—174 40 

" " 1860. Paid third instalment, being one-fifth as 

above 160 00 

One year's Interest in advance on balance 

due, ($320.) as above, 9 60—169 60 

" " 1861. Paid fourth instalment, being one-fifth as 

above 160 00 

One year's Interest in advance on balance 

due, ($160,) as above, 4 80—164 80 

" " 18G2. Paid fifth instalment, being one-fifth as 

above, and received Deed, .... 160 00 

Making the full payment, principal and interest, . $896 00 

It must be understood, however, that at least one- 
tenth of the lands purchased shall be fenced and culti- 
vated each year, for five years, so as to have one-half of 
the purchase under improvement by the time the last pay- 
ment becomes due. It will also be borne in mind, that 
until the payments are made, and the deed of conveyance 
o-ranted, these lands are not subject to taxation by the 
22 d Section of the Act of the Legislature, approved 
Feb. 10th, 1851. 



FUEL. 

Great misconception exists at the East in regard to 
fuel ; the want of which is not a matter of inconvenience 
to our farmers. Wood is delivered at the stations along 
the line of the road, at from $3 to $4 per cord. In the 
central and southern portions of the State, it is afforded 
in some places as low as $2 per cord. Bituminous Coal, 
of the best quality^ is found at various points along the 
road, and sells at from $1 50 to $4 per ton. Mines 
are now being worked at convenient distances all-over 
the State, and the completion of the various East and 
West rail-roads, guarantees a constant supply at reason- 
able rates. Old residents in the State consider this Coal 
more economical as fuel, even when they have to haul 
it a considerable distance, than to cut wood on their 
own farms. 



THE VALUE OF THE LAND FOR FARMING PURPOSES. 

Illinois is known throughout the United States as the 
Garden State of the Union, and from the extraordinary 
fertility of its soil, is justly entitled to the name. Its 
vast tracts of rich rolling land were called by the first 
French settlers "Prairies," which, translated, means 
"natural meadows," and such they are; almost the 
whole State is a natural meadow, lying in high, beauti- 
fully rolling or gently undulating Prairies, with a soil of 
surpassing and inexhaustible fertility, all ready for the 
plough, without a rock, stump or even stone to interrupt 
its action. The difficulties experienced in the Eastern 
States, or in Western timbered States, in bringing lands 
under cultivation, are unknown here ; the soil is readily 
turned over at the rate of two acres to two acres and a 



8 

half a day, by a heavy team of horses or two yoke of 
oxen, or it may be contracted to be worked at from $2 
to $3 per acre, and an active practical man can readily 
cultivate ten acres here, against one in the Eastern or 
Middle States, taking them as they run, while the yield 
per acre will be infinitely greater. With, far less labor, 
a farm purchased here at the low rates ruling at present, 
will yield more than one there valued at $100 to $150 
per acre. The soil is a dark, rich vegetable mould, 
varying from two to eight feet in depth, capable of pro- 
ducing any thing in the greatest profusion, which will 
grow in these latitudes at all, and absolutely inexhausti- 
ble in its fertility. Instances could be multiplied of 
land cropped for twenty to thirty successive years, with- 
out the addition of a pound of manure, on which the 
growth, last season, was just as vigorous and the yield as 
profuse, as on any other of the series. Crossing the 
prairies, are belts of white oak, hickory, black walnut, 
ash and maple timber, of excellent quality, generally 
following the courses of the streams, varying from half a 
mile to five miles in width, in many places running far 
out on the prairie, or scattered in groves here and there 
over its surface. The State, as a general thing, is well 
watered, the streams usually running over sandy or stony 
beds ; besides ponds of constant stock-water, which are 
found in all parts of the prairies. For household pur- 
poses, excellent soft water is found at from 10 to 25 
feet in depth, generally springing from a strata of sand. 
Settlers from the East are always agreeably disappointed 
in the character of the land in this respect ; a prevailing 
though erroneous impression having gone forth, that on 
the prairies good water was difficult to be found. The 
first crop, on newly-broken praiiie, is generally Sod 



Corn; as this requires no cultivation between planting 
and gathering, the farmer has ample time to get things 
comfortable about him, and prepare the land for sowing 
winter wheat before cold weather comes on. From this 
sod crop it is the expectation to realize sufficient to pay 
the cost of breaking, improvements and general expen- 
ses, placing the land in a high state of cultivation on the 
opening of the second season. It has averaged from 
thirty to thirty-five bushels per acre, often running up 
to fifty. Wheat averages from twenty-tive to thirty 
bushels per acre, frequently reaching thirty-eight and 
forty, and during the past season has been selling, at the 
various rail-road stations, at from $1 35 to $1 50 per 
bushel. The second crop of corn averages from sixty 
to eighty bushels, frequently giving one hundred. 

By the great net-work of rail-roads, reaching all 
portions of the State, every farmer is comparatively near 
a market ; since, owing to the competition amongst 
Chicago buyers, each rail-road station becomes a local 
market for the producer, where Chicago prices, less the 
expense of transportation, can be readily commanded. 
Chicago is now the greatest Grain depot in the World : 
Thirteen rail-roads, all of great length, centre here, 
keeping all parts of this State and the United States in 
constant and close connection with it. Vessels have 
loaded at its docks direct for Liverpool, to go through, 
via the Lakes and St. Lawrence, without any tranship- 
ment of cargo ; and from its superior harbor and extra- 
ordinary natural position, it must ever be the great 
centre of trade for the West and Northwest, To the 
settler in the central and southern portions of the State, 
peculiar advantages are opened by the completion of 
the " Ohio and Mississippi Rail-Road," and its connec- 



10 

tion with the " Illinois Central," enabling him to com- 
mand the Chicago market to the North, St. Louis to the 
West, Cincinnati to the East, and the Mississippi towns and 
New-Orleans, via Cairo, to the South. This is a particu- 
larly desirable section for producing grain or choice 
fruit, or raising stock; and is already considerably settled 
by a most substantial farming population, which has 
grown up into comfort and affluence by its surprising 
advance in productiveness and wealth. The soil there 
is of a warmer nature, the winters mild and springs 
early ; grain matures several weeks before that in the 
Genessee Vallies, and reaching the Eastern markets so 
much in advance of all others, commands the high rates 
always ruling before the incoming of new crops. Atten- 
tion is requested to the letters from Messrs. Root, Arter, 
Gilson, Phillips and Williams, residents of this section, 
as illustrative of what may be there accomplished. 

Land may be selected in accordance with the individ- 
ual tastes of purchasers ; some sections of country are 
best adapted to corn, others to wheat, some producing 
both equally well; some again seem peculiarly favorable 
to stock raising, others to fruit growing or fancy garden- 
ing ; some portions are heavily timbered ; on some, tim- 
ber just covers one corner, or is scattered in occasional 
groups or groves. Frequently, in a single section of 640 
acres, all these qualities are combined, together with 
living water ; and the settler finds a home, only requiring 
a moderate expenditure of labor to establish him com- 
fortably for life. 

The system of long credits and low rates of interest 
established by the Company, is estimated by experienced 
farmers in the State, as being worth, to the actual settler, 
from thirty to fifty per cent, per annum, by enabling 



11 

him to invest his ready money immediately in the culti- 
vation of the land, so that from his being able to take 
up so much more than the man who locks up his funds 
in a cash purchase, and the immense returns from land 
placed under cultivation, he soon finds himself far in 
advance. In proof of this, instances could be multiplied, 
of parties who have cleared the entire cost of their lands 
over and over again from a single crop ; and the reader 
is referred to the letters appended to this pamphlet, for 
numerous examples of the more average success of prairie 
farming operations. 



ADVANTAGES OF SETTLING IN ILLINOIS. 

Settlers should bear in mind that the country west of 
the Mississippi is not yet opened by rail-roads ; and in 
the opinions of even the most sanguine, will not be in 
less than five years time. Also, that the lands along the 
water courses and proposed lines of rail-roads have been 
entered by speculators, and are held at high rates, and 
invariably for cash. . The farmer, therefore, is either 
obliged to pay a liigli cash price for his land, or to go 
some distance from a market, thereby incurring great 
expense in the transportation of his material and crops. 
Now the very difference realized in the sales of crops in 
such a State as Illinois, opened as it is with rail-roads 
through every part, and markets at every station, over 
those ruling west of the river, would, in five years time, 
pay the difference in the first cost of land over and over 
again ; and in the end, leave an estate, vastly more valua- 
ble, from its being so much nearer a market, in the centre 
of a well-improved, highly cultivated State, and forever 
clear of the expense which must be incurred by the tran- 



12 



shipment in crossing the Mississippi, and the freights to 
be paid on a greater distance of transportation. 



ADVANTAGES FOR MECHANICS, LABORERS, &c., &c. 

There is work enough for all who can come ; towns 
and villages are springing up with unexampled rapidity ; 
great districts of country are being settled, and internal 
improvements keeping pace with the general advance of 
the population and wealth. For many years to come, in 
all human probability, this rate of progression and 
increase must be sustained, and mechanical labor con- 
tinue to be in constant demand. The prudent, indus- 
trious laborer can also depend upon continued employ- 
ment at fair wages ; and if economical, may readily save 
sufiQcient from the proceeds of a year's work, to make the 
advance interest payment required by the Company to 
secure a piece of land for his farm ; thus starting upon his 
career to independence and probable wealth. 



MINERALS, COAL, LUMBER, &c., &c. 

The Company owns valuable tracts of Iron, Lead and 
Zinc Ores, also Coal ; and forests of the most valua- 
ble White Oak, Black Walnut, Hickory and Cypress tim- 
ber ; rights, for the working of which, may be obtained 
upon application at this ofiice. Excellent opportunities 
for erecting steam mills exist at points where a great 
local demand may be had, as well as rail-road facilities 
for conveying the lumber to all parts of the State. 
When the amount of building now going on throughout 
the State is taken into consideration, a glance at such 
opportunities must be sufficient for the practical operator. 



13 

ILLINOIS 

Is now in the start of its great advance towards be- 
coming the first producing State in the Union. Having 
Lake Michigan on one side, furnishing a constant outlet 
for its produce, the Mississippi to the west, with its tri- 
butaries, the Illinois and Rock rivers, both navigable 
streams, running far into its interior, the Wabash on 
its eastern borders, and Ohio on the south, the natural 
facilities would seem unequalled in the world. But, 
added to these, is a system of internal improvements un- 
surpassed by any other of the States. The Illinois and 
Michigan Canal intersects it from east to west, and 
numerous rail-roads cross and re-cross in every direc- 
tion. Its hamlets are becoming towns, its towns cities, 
and its vast prairies occupied and cultivated by a most 
substantial and respectable farming population. Every- 
thing seems to be flourishing, and wealth and general 
prosperity rewarding every adventure. For young 
men, wearied with struggling against the competitions 
and difficulties of advancement in the older States, this 
seems a field peculiarly suited to their aims and ambi- 
tions ; requiring but a moderate investment of capital, 
large returns await the prudent and industrious operator. 
The reader can see, from the perusal of the letters ac- 
companying this pamphlet, what has been accomplished 
by others, starting under far more adverse circumstances 
than now exist ; and when, upon such a soil as this has 
been proved to be, attended with all the facilities, natu- 
ral and artificial, which have been brought to bear upon 
it, the more scientific and economical system of agricul- 
ture pursued in older countries is directed — the reality 
must surpass the most sanguine expectations at present 
entertained. 



14 



COST OF MOVING TO CHICAGO. 

FAEES FROM NEW-YORK TO CHICAGO, BY THE DIFFERENT ROUTES 

First Class. Emigrant, 
Via Hudson River, New- York Central, Great Western, 

(Canada,) and iMichigan Central Roads, (distance 961 • 

miles,) §?22 00 $10 00 

Via Hudson River, ^ew-York Central, Buffalo and 
Brantford, (Canada,) Great Western, (Canada,) and 
Michigan Central Roads, (967 miles,) . . 22 00 10 00 

Via Hudson River, New-York Central, Buffalo and Erie, 
Cleveland and Toledo, and Michigan Southern Roads, 
(distance 963 miles,) . , 22 00 10 00 

Via New- York and Erie to Niagara Falls; Great Western, 
(Canada,) and Michigan Central Rail-Roads, (distance 
960 miles,) 22 00 10 00 

Via New- York and Erie to Buffalo, Buffalo and Brant- 
ford, (Canada,) Great Western, (Canada,) and Michi- 
gan Central Roads, (distance 950 miles,) . . . 22 00 10 00 

Via New-York and Erie, Buffalo and Erie, Cleveland 
and Erie, Cleveland and Toledo, and Michigan South- 
ern Rail -Roads, (distance 960 miles,) . . . .22 00 10 00 

In summer, the fares by the above routes will be about 18 00 8 00 

In summer, passengers can go, via New-York and Erie, 
or Hudson River and New- York Central, to Buffalo, 
there connecting with Lake Erie steamers to Detroit or 
Monroe, thence by Michigan Roads to Chicago. Fare 16 00 8 00 

In summer, also, passengers can take steamers on the Hudson River to 
Newburg, there connecting with New-York and Erie Road; or to Albany, 
there connecting with New-York Central Road. Fare, one dollar less than 
above. 

Children over four years and under twelve years, half price ; under four 
years, free. Extra baggage, over one hundred pounds, $2 per hundred. 

Freight on farming tools and furniture, $1 50 per hundred pounds, which 
should be boxed in packages not too large, well hooped, and plainly marked 
with paint, and not with cards. 

Prices from Boston and Philadelphia range at about the same rales. 



15 



Prices given for Corn, Wheat and Oats, at the Chicago Market, 
during the year of 1854. 







SPRING 


WINTER 






MONTHS. 


CORN, 


WHEAT. 


WHEAT. 


OATS. 


January, . 

February, 


33 to 40 


93 to 95 


106 to 115 


26 


to 26^ 


45 " 46 


117 " 120 


130 " 140 


30 


" 31 


March, 


49 " 50 


104 " 106 


120 " 130 


27 


» 281 


April, . 


43 " 44 


100 " 10.2 


112 " 120 


261 


« 27 


May, . 


43 » 45 


125 " 130 


140 " 150 


30 


" 31 


June, 


45 " 46 


128 " 130 


140 " 150 


30 


" 311 


July, 


50 " 51 


95 " 100 


115 « 120 


31 


" 33 


August, . 


54 " 55 


95 " 110 


140 " 150 


29 


" 30 


September, 


60 « 61 


100 " 120 


130 " 140 


32 


« 33 


October, . 


54 " 55 


90 " 105 


130 " 140 


33 


" 34 


November, . 


50 *' 52 


120 " 125 


130 « 145 


32 


" 33 


December, 


46 " 47 


100 " 110 


112 " 125 


23 


" 28 



Prices given for Corn, Wheat and Oats, at the Chicago Market^ 
during the year of 1855. 







epRiNft 


WINTER 






MONTHS. 


CORN. 






OATS. 1 






WHEAT. 


WHEAT. 






January, 


48 to 50 


113 to 120 


128 to 135 


27 


to 28 


February, . . 


48 " 50 


115 " 120 


125 " 135 


27 


" 28 


March, 


50 " 55 


115 "■ 130 


125 " 140 


34 


" 35 


April, 


55 " 62 


135 " 150 


150 " 187L 


40 


" 48 


May, . 


72 " 78 


150 " 170 


160 " 175 


45 


" 52 


June, 


70 " 80 


150 " 162 


158 " 165 


40 


" 48 


July, . 


70 " 75 


150 " 156 


155 " 165 


45 


" 50 


August, . 


63 « 68 


110 " 125 


133 '* 140 


26 


" 30 


September, . 


63 " 68 


103 " 130 


120 '* 155 


26 


« 30 


October, . 


63 " 68 


128 " 160 


155 " 180 


25 


" 28 


November, . 


60 " 65 


145 " 152 


155 " 162 


26 


« 31 


December, 


50 " 55 


128 « 136 


135 " 145 


26 


" 29 



16 



What Articles it will te best to bring out from the East. 

Furniture. — Highly fiiiislied and costly furniture is 
mostly all brought from the East, and sold at a large 
advance in the West. If you use such furniture, it will, 
pay you to have what you require boxed up and sent 
out from the East. Plain, substantial furniture, such as 
is generally used in farm-houses, can be had here, nearly, 
if not quite as cheap as at the East. Stores of all kinds 
can be bought at reasonable prices. 

Agricultural Tools. — Small agricultural tools are 
m.ore extensively made at the East ; but reaping, mow- 
ing and threshing machines are extensively made at the 
West. Spades, shovels, &c. , you buy cheaper at the East ; 
but ploughs of different kinds you can buy as reasonablj 
here. 

Cows AND Oxen. — Good milch cows can be bought at 
from $20 to $30. Good, well-broke working oxen caii 
be had at from $75 to- $150 per yoke. 

Horses vary from $75 to $150 each. At these prices^ 
good, strong-limbed, healthy animals can be purchased, 
suitable for farms. Horses are extensively and cheaplj 
raised on the prairies for the Eastern market, and afford 
large profit. 



Reaping and Threshing with Machinery by Contract. 

Reaping Machines are almost altogether used at the 
West. They cost $125. They will cut fourteen acres 
of wheat per day. Contracts for reaping are made at 
62| cents per acre. The contractor furnishes a driver, 
raker and horses ; the farmer finds binders and shockers. 



17 

Threshing Machines will thresh 300 bushels per day. 
It is generally contracted to be done at 4 cents per 
bushel, the contractor furnishing four horses and three 
hands ; the farmer four more horses and five more hands, 
making in all eight hands, viz. : one driver, one feeder, 
one measurer, one to pitch sheaves, one to cut bands, 
and three to take away straw. 



FENCING. 



An abundant supply of lumber or timber for building 
or fencing can be easily procured ; but the Osage Orange 
plant has been extensively introduced, and is rapidly 
supplanting all other kinds of fencing. Being, at the 
same time, more permanent and secure than any other, 
and highly ornamental, it must soon be universally em- 
ployed. It can be raised by contract at 75 c. per rod ; 
parties making a business of preparing the ground, set- 
ting out the plants, and cultivating and trimming them 
until a perfect hedge is produced for the settler. For 
this, one-third of the contract money is paid upon the 
setting out of the plants, and the balance when the 
fence is completed, without interest. Farmers prefer- 
ring to raise plants from the seed, or procure them from 
nurseries, tending the hedge themselves, can probably 
procure their fence more economically than by con- 
tracting. 

TOWN LOTS. 

At about every ten miles along the road, the Company 
have erected large and commodious passenger and 
freight houses. Around most of these, dwellings and 

2 



18 

stores have been erected since the completion of the 
rail-road. Merchants and mechanics are gathering at 
these stations, to accommodate the wants of the rapidly 
gro^Ying farming population surrounding them. At most 
of the stations the Company own the town sites. Lots 
are offered on extremely liberal terms, to any who wish 
to purchase and build on them. 

Great opportunities are offered at these various stations 
for embarking in the mercantile business, dealing in lum- 
ber or grain, pork and beef-packing, or in a general 
produce business. A country so fruitful and productive, 
with a population rapidly filling it up, must make each 
and all of these profitable. 



FURTHER INFORMATION. 

Sectional Maps of the Lands of the Company, showing 
the precise position of every piece of land in various 
parts of the State, owned by the Company, can be had 
at the Chicago Land Ofiice, by remitting 50 cents in 
postage stamps. Plats of their towns at the various 
stations throughout the State can also be seen at that 
office. For any further information, apply personally or 
by letter, in English, French or German, to 

JOHN WILSON, 

Land Commissioner, 
Illinois Central R. R. Co.^ Chicago. 



Land Department, III. C. R. R. Co., ) 
Chicago, January 1, 1856. \ 



Office, after May l.st, 1856, in Illinois' Central R. R. 
Depot Buildings. 



LETTERS liN REGARD TO SOIL, ETC. 



LETTER FROM G. W. GILSON. 

Centralia, Marion Co., Ilunois, ) 
December 20, 1855. ) 

Hon. John Wilson, 

Land Commissioner : 

Dear Sir, — You have requested my views in regard to the advan- 
tages and prospects of Illinois ; and it aflfords me great pleasure to be 
able to answer you. I have resided in the State for nineteen years, and 
may, therefore, be considered as possessing some knowledge of the sub- 
ject I am writing about. I have seen many changes, and the results of 
many operations for advancing our position. I have seen the dreary 
times when our farmers had to live in isolated positions, haul their crops 
long distances to a market, and then sell at low rates, taking goods in 
exchange as part payment ; and I see them now with rail-roads passing 
all around them, and markets established within the convenient reach 
of every one of them. Large as has been the accession to our popula- 
tion during a few years past, in my opinion the coming season will show 
an immensely greater increase still. The maps and advertisements of 
your Company have found their way into the hands of eager men, who, 
from the sterile hills of the Atlantic seaboard, view with amazement 
the rapid progress of this mighty valley of the West. The tide of 
prosperous commerce, which is sending its rich treasures to the East, 
from our ocean of agricultural wealth, in its return brings back the 
necessary means of increase; and thus each year is destined to add to 
the almost boundless development of the resources of our State. 

Illinois is by far the most important agricultural State in the Union, 
and affords the greatest inducements to emigrants. It has more acres 



20 

of good arable, and fewer acres of waste land than any other State. It 
has, along its borders, and through its area, more miles of navigable 
streams, one of the largest and most important canals in the world, 
connecting the Northern lakes with the Mississippi river; and rail- 
roads in every direction, forming, as it were, a net-work of iron over 
its rich and fertile prairies. Mines of iron, coal, lead and other min- 
erals, underlay these beautiful savannahs ; and a salubrious, even cli- 
mate makes redolent with health the happy families who here found 
their prosperous homes. 

Iowa, though much talked of at the East, can hold no comparison 
with our "Prairie State." Settlers going over there find, to their cost, 
that the land speculator has been before them, selecting the desirable 
locations, and holding them at cash prices, equal to, and often far be- 
yond the credit rates in Illinois. Along each stream, all possible future 
rail-road routes, and near every market station, he has been there first, 
and the settler must press further, further back, and doom himself to 
hard, unprofitable labor, in an isolated position for years to come. Land 
speculators will be the great curse of Iowa for a whole generation to 
come. They are locking up the resources of the State, preventing its 
improvement, and constituting themselves a perfect pest to the actual 
settler. Large tracts of land have been entered, and are now held by 
foreign capitalists, who intend to keep them out of the market until the 
improvements of others have enabled them to realize immense profits. 
Suppose a farmer from the East to make a selection in the midst of 
one of these tracts; he can have no knowledge of how the land around 
him may be held, and would have to waste his whole lifetime, adding to 
the wealth of another, from whom he derives no reciprocal advantage, 
but on the contrary, the greatest injury. Again, the prices are actually 
higher over there than here. I have known of lands, thirty miles from 
a market, with no timber or stream within ten miles, to be held at from 
$10 a $12 per acre — one-half cash, and the balance in six months or a 
year, with ten per cent, interest. The settler there would have to haul 
his lumber and building materials thirty miles, giving, to start with, $22 
and upwards for even ordinary lumber, bring his produce thirty miles 
again to market, and then receive 25 a 33 per cent, less for his crops, 
than, at the same time, the farmer in Central or Southern Illinois would 
be readily commanding. Allowing, again, that Iowa was well supplied 
with rail-roads now, (though such a state of things cannot be expected 
in less than ten years' time,) and allowing that the settler could at once 
secure a good location at fair prices, still his neighbor in Illinois would 



21 

have the advantage over him, for Chicago is now, and must ever be, the 
ceatre and gathering point for all the produce West, Northwest and 
Southwest of it, and will consequently fix the standard price for this whole 
region of country ; and all the producer can hope to get for his crops 
will be Chicago prices, less the cost of transportation, leaving the balance 
always against the farmer, as he recedes from the centre of trade. 

Again, in Iowa he will have to pay far higher for all agricultural tools, 
and machinery, all materials for building, as well as the little luxuries 
of life ; find it diflScult, if not impossible, to educate his children ; and, 
in short, for many years suffer all the social, agricultural and general 
privations and wants of an entirely new State. 

Now turn to Illinois. Here we have such a net-work of rail-roads, 
not on paper, but in actual operation, that it is almost impossible for a 
settler to get many miles away from one. At every station his produce 
will command hard cash, at nearly Chicago rates. He is in the midst 
of the most flourishing State in the Union ; in a perfectly healthy cli- 
mate, with a rich soil, plenty of fine timber and good water ; abound- 
ing in coal and minerals ; and where he can obtain the best of land on 
long credits, with low rates of interest and easy payments. How much 
better, then, to settle here ; for the next ten years he can make far more 
per annum than by going West of the Mississippi ; and even should he 
pay a few dollars more per acre, on a long credit, the difierence in re- 
ceipts on a single crop would more than repay it. 

By the terms upon which your company disposes of its lands, the 
speculator is shut out. Let the settler take this into consideration; 
let him look at the advantages of being surrounded by actual farmers 
only, who will aid immediately in making roads, building churches and 
schools, and all other local improvements ; let him study your terms 
for lands ; here he can buy on your six years' credit — only pay three 
per cent, per annum for the use of his money, and at once invest his 
means in cultivating the purchase. So he can afford to buy double the 
amount in Illinois that he can in Iowa ; and before his payments are 
completed, realize at least two hundred per cent, on the money thus 
used in cultivation. 

By far the most valuable and desirable portion of our State has as 
yet received but little attention ; and many of our best farming lands 
are still held at very low figures. The reason for this is, that the tide of 
emigration, years ago, before rail-roads were even thought of out here, 
poured in from the Lakes and Northern Indiana, seeking the Illinois and 
Rock rivers to furnish an outlet for their crops. Year after year settlers 



22 

came along, locating in the neighborhood of these pioneers, and thus 
forming quite large settlements, which have ever since attracted more 
or less of the passing emigrants. Some of these centres were also 
formed in Southern lUinois, but not having the large navigable streams 
so near at hand, did not progress so rapidly as the others. Now, how» 
ever, the streams cease to be essential, the rail-road having ftM-nished the 
necessary outlet ; and these fairest sections of the whole State lie in rich 
luxuriance, inviting the energy of the former only to return to him 
their choicest rewards. Southern Illinois has more timber, and a soil 
better adapted to the production of wheat, corn, fruits or grasses than 
the northern parts of the State. The winters are far shorter and less 
severe ; and while by rail-road the settler finds easy access to Chicago 
and the East, he is also in close proximity to the uninterrupted naviga- 
tion of the South. Our prairies are not so large as those in the North, 
are more gently undulating, well watered by small streams, and have 
the timber scattered over them to better advantage. Our climate is 
mild, regular and healthy. We are exempt from sudden and severe 
changes, and able to pursue farming operations to far greater advantage, 
and vastly greater profit. Our stock requires but little housing or feed- 
ing up, and can therefore be raised more economically, while we have 
constantly the choice of the four great markets, Chicago, St. Louis, 
Cincinnati and New-Orleans, for the disposal of our produce. If East- 
ern farmers would give this section a fair and full examination, I am 
persuaded they would settle here at once ; and I know the results of 
their operations could not fail to be highly satisfactory. 

Such, sir, are the results of my observation and experience in Illinois 
and the West. They are at your disposal if you think fit to use them, 
while I remain, 

Yours, very truly, 

GEORGE W. GILSON. 



LETTER FROM B. G. ROOTS. 

Tamaroa, Perry Co., Ill,, ) 
Dec. 27, 1855. J 

Hon. John Wilson, 

Land Commissioner : 
Dear Sir, — In March, 1837, I left Massachusetts for Illinois. During 
the first eighteen months, my profession of civil engineer required me to 



23 

be constantly in or near the swamp and overflowed lands in the extreme 
southeasterly portions of this State. I did not, however, find even that 
section as sickly as I had expected, though an occasional shake admon- 
ished me that while engaged in that occupation, my family had better 
remain in comfortable quarters at home. Seeing that this State offered 
superior advantages to men with only a small capital, I was anxious to 
locate in it ; but as fully determined to run no risk as to the health of 
ray family. After extensive examinations, I selected the tract upon 
which I now reside, and removed my family from the East to it. I have 
since become well acquainted with all counties south and east of the 
Illinois river, and have been in most of the counties in the south half of 
Wisconsin, but have seen none healthier than this. I went through the 
country above spoken of before we had rail-roads. I travelled with my 
own conveyance, and stopped at the farm-houses at night ; every house 
was a traveller's home — for there were few taverns. From all that I 
have seen, I fully believe that the prairies in the south part of this State 
are quite as healthy as any other section. We find abundance of good 
water by digging — the average depth of wells in this vicinity being 
from 12 to 25 feet. The prairie furnishes excellent pasturage; but it 
dries up earlier in the fall (unless we have more rain than usual) than 
tame pastures. This year, cattle did well upon the prairies, until late in 
December; but it is generally expedient to feed some from the middle 
of November until the latter part of March. A pasture of blue grass 
will sustain, in good condition, mules, colts, sheep, diry cows and steers, 
ten months in the year. As we had no means of exporting wheat until 
the Illinois Central Rail-Road opened an outlet, it was not sown exten- 
sively until the fall of 1854 ; that sowing averaged from 20 to 25 bushels 
per acre, of most excellent wheat ; most of which was manufactured 
into flour, aod sold in the city of New-York, before the crop in the 
northern parts of the State was even cut. 

Fencing is the hardest work which a new settler here has to perform. 
Good white oak rails, laid up in fence, where it is required, aie worth 
from $2 to $3 per hundred. To lessen the cost of fencing, it is very 
desirable for several friends to settle together, so that the land at first 
may be enclosed in one common field. 4,Y04 rails will fence 20 acres; 
6,720 will fence 40 acres; 13,440 rails will fence 160 acres; 28,880 
rails will fence one section, or 640 acres. 

The spring following that which the prairie sod is broken up, a Ma- 
dura hedge should be set out around the portion chosen by each indi- 
vidual. Many of my neighbors make their own hedges ; but as a man 



24 

can always dispose of his labor to advantage here, I belieye it cheaper 
to buy it than to make it. Hedging has become a trade, to which a 
class of men devote themselves. They furnish the plants, set them in 
the ground, and cultivate them for four years, at 15^ cents per rod a 
year; making the whole cost of hedge 60 cents per rod. At the expira-* 
tion of four years, when the last payment upon the hedge is due, it is a 
perfect barrier against bulls, pigs and all other animals. The rails of 
which the outside fence was made are then sold to somebody else, or 
used to make interior fences. They will last for twenty years, and I 
know not how much longer. Sixteen years ago, I purchased an old im- 
provement. Most of the rails with which it was enclosed are still good. 

New prairie is broken to advantage from the 15th of April to the 
10th of July, but I prefer to have it broken from the 10 th of May to 
the 10th of June. That which is broken previous to the 10th of June, 
I plant in corn, which yields from 20 to 45 bushels per acre. As it 
receives no cultivation after it is planted, it is more affected by good or 
bad seasons than crops which are cultivated. That which is broken tip 
after the 10th of June is sown with wheat in September, and always 
yields well. Corn which is planted before the 20th of May is often cut 
Dp and wheat sown on the same ground in September or October ; but 
wheat which is sown so late is sure not to produce as well as that sown 
early. Oats do not do very well upon prairie, until the ground has 
been cultivated two or three years ; but the year following that on 
which it is first broken up, it is in excellent condition to produce wheat, 
barley, corn, flax-seed, castor beans, and every kind of garden vegetable 
which is raised in New-England, and excellent sweet potatoes in 
abundance. 

With a good plough and one pair of good horses, one man can break 
wp one and a half acres per day of the new prairie. A good yoke of 
cattle will break up nearly the same quantity of ground. Two good yoke 
of cattle will break two acres per day. Previous to 1853, the customary 
price for breaking prairie was from $1 50 to $2 per acre; but in 1853 
the common price was $2 50 per acre ; and, as the demand for labor 
always exceeds the supply, I think it will not be less than this sum for 
several years to come. 

Common farm hands receive from $110 to $130 per annum, and their 
board. I employ a good practical working farmer, who takes charge of 
every thing pertaining to the farm. I furnish him house, garden and 
fruit trees, free of rent, and pay him $250 per annum. He, with the aid 
of a boy twelve years of age, five breeding mares and $10 worth o( 



25 

occasional aid, attends to forty acres in corn, ten in wheat, ten in oats, 
six in flax, (cultivated only for the seed,) ten in meadow of old ground, 
and breaks up and plants in sod corh twenty acres of new prairie. We 
commence planting corn from the 1st to the 20th of April, and finish 
from the 1st to the 10th of June. I once raised an excellent crop planted 
on the 23d of June. I cut up my corn stalks near the ground, before the 
frost comes, and shock it up. We pull the ears from that which is to be 
fed to dry cows and steers, who do well on the fodder and such nubbins 
as are left upon it. If we wish to fatten cattle in the winter, we give 
them the fodder with the ears all remaining on it. 

At the stations on the rail-road we can sell every thing we can spare 
at nearly Chicago or New-Orleans prices, less the cost of transportation. 
I believe the charge from here to Chicago is 24 cents per bushel. 

We raise what is here called sugar-corn, to eat green. We have it 
fit for cooking from the 20th of June till October. We raise two crops 
of this and one crop of turnips on the same ground in one season. We 
receive, in excellent condition, fresh fish from the lake, via Chicago, and 
tropical fruits via New-Orleans and Cairo. The facility with which we 
dispose of whatever we have to sell, and procure whatever we wish to 
purchase, the mildness of the climate and the fertility of the soil, render 
this a most desirable residence. If farmers will once visit us, they will 
abandon all idea of settling in Iowa. After a farm is once fenced, 
there is very little use for timber land. Coal here is rapidly taking 
the place of wood, as fuel. I buy coal at such a rate, that it is 
cheaper to burn it than to prepare wood for stoves and fire-places. 
Coal is so abundant that all Southern Illinois will always be supplied at 
a low rate. 

Numerous saw-mills are being erected in the timber along the rail- 
road, south of Big Muddy River. Some are completed, and lumber 
yards are established at almost every station, where the pine of the North 
meets the poplar, cypress, black walnut, sycamore, maple and oak, from 
the South. There are saw-mills in the smaller portions of timber which 
occur at short intervals in this part of the State, but they are fully occu- 
pied in supplying the demand in their immediate vicinity. 

I planted an orchard of apple and peach trees in 1843. The peach 
;rees commenced bearing in 1845, and the apple in 1847 ; and, although 
the yield is not uniform in amount, we have enough excellent fruit every 
year. My cherries, currants, gooseberries and grapes have received 
very little attention, but they yield abundantly. Clover is a diflBcult 
crop to start well, but when once well set, it thrives. Timothy, red-top 



26 

orcliard grass and blue grass, set easily after the prairie has been culti- 
vated, and yield well. The greatest difficulty here is the want of labor. 
It is so easy to become the owner of land, that ralmost every man who 
is worth hiring, becomes the owner of a farm within a few years, and 
wants to hire laborers himself. * 

Very respectfully, 

B. G. ROOTS. 



LETTER FROM JOHN WILLIAMS. 

New-Albany, Coles County, III., ) 
December, 23, 1855. J 

Hon. John Wilson, Land Commissioner : 

Sir, — I will now comply with your request for my experience as a 
farmer in this State ; at the same time giving you permission to use this 
letter as you may judge will tend most to the interest of the State, by 
inducing industrious men living in the Eastern States, and possessing 
but moderate means, to come on to these rich prairies, where, with but 
a small investment, they can build up, by their energy and prudence, 
comfortable homes and handsome farms. And not only will these do 
well, but also for the man of wealth, ambitious of an extended field for 
operation, no place can be more desirable. To give one instance. Let 
a man purchase a good stock location, and invest his money the coming 
spring in young cattle, at a cost of from $2 50 a $3 00 per hundred, 
gross weight ; the grass will make an increase of 50 per cent, on the 
investment by fall, with the sole cost of a boy to see after them, that 
they keep together by day and are pounded at night. I bought, last 
fall, one hundred and twelve head of cattle, at a cost of $2 30 per 
hundred, or about $25 50 per head, and have since sold them for beef, 
to be delivered from the 25th to 2Sth of April, at |4 25 per hundred, 
gross — with the hogs that follow them at the same rate ; enabling ma, 
as you can readily see, to cash my grain, at a first rate price. At my 
farm the cattle will bring me from $48 to $50 per head, besides the in- 
crease on the hogs. 

I have lived in Illinois about thirty years, and have seen some ups 
and downs in that time. I moved from Kentucky, and settled first in 
Vermillion County ; after living there thirteen years I moved into Cham- 
paign County, lived there three years and then went over into Piatt 



27 

• 

County, Missouri ; not having seen the Icand there before moving out. 
and finding it did not equal my expectations, I returned to Illinois and 
settled in Coles County, where I have remained ever since; you can 
therefore see that I have been over some of the West in search of the 
best place to make the Almighty dollar, and as I think I have found it. 
I will here say that after a man has lived in the State of Illinois, and 
farmed its rich soil for a few years, he will find it hard work to hunt up 
a better country. When I first settled in Vermillion County, the repre- 
sentation of our district comprised all the State lying up along the lake, 
including Chicago, which then consisted only of the old block fort on 
the lake shore ; at that time we, in the centre of the State, had no 
market for any of our produce ; we had no rail-roads, and were forced 
to kill our hogs at home, team them to Terre Haute, sixty miles, and 
then get $1 50 to $2 per hundred weight, taking half the amount in 
store goods at a very high figure. So farmers had to work along in 
those days. I have known corn to sell for 5 to 8 cents per bushel, and 
yet even then they did well, from the fact that they could raise every 
thing they wanted to eat, and in abundance to. 

As I said, I have seen some ups and downs in Illinois. In 1836 spec- 
ulations ran high in land and town sites ; then the legislature passed an 
act authorizing the construction of some thirteen hundred miles of rail- 
road, of which none was built, excepting a short line from Springfield to 
the Illinois river, while the expectation of a high rate of taxation turned 
the course of emigration into Iowa ; and so it ran on for a few years, 
until people found out that in passing into Iowa they left behind them 
the best and richest State, and that all their ideas about high taxation 
were totally wrong. Then came the act of Congress authorizing the 
Legislature of the State to negotiate with a company for the building 
of a long line of rail-road north and south through the State, and the 
completion of this has ushered in the new era of prosperity for our 
State. I believe wehave now about twenty-five hundred miles of finished 
rail-road, and some six or seven hundred miles in process of building, 
which gives us a market right at our own doors for all we can raise. 
Times have changed, indeed, sir, since I commenced in the State. In- 
stead of 5 or 8 cents a bushel for our corn, we now get 25 to 40. In- 
stead of 25 to 38 cents for wheat, we now have $1 25 to $1 60 per 
bushel ; and in place of spending some four days getting to Chicago, 
we now go up on a morning, do our trading, and get back the next 
day. 

I can raise on my farm, and have done it, 60 to 100 bushels of corn 



28 

to the acre ; 30 to 40 bushels of wheat per acre, and every kind of 
vegetables in the greatest abundance. I harvested off my farm, this 
season, 15,000 bushels of corn ; two men raised for me, with but little 
more than their own labor, about 7,000 bushels of corn and oats ; this 
corn is now worth, in the crib, over 25 cents per bushel. My neighbors ' 
raised from 25 to 38 bushels of wheat per acre, and sold it on the spot 
at from $1 25 to $1 30 per bushel. Early in the season, Mr. Cuthbert- 
son, a neighbor of mine, sold the crop of wheat off of 50 acres of land, 
as it stood, for $1,500 cash. I will just say, sir, that in Coles, Cham- 
paign, Vermillion, Moultrie and the adjoining Counties, are as good lands 
as the sun shines upon ; the soil is rich and deep ; timber first rate ; 
water fine and sweet ; health as good as anywhere in the States; and if 
a man can't come here and clear the whole cost of his land, improve- 
ments and all expenses, from two or three crops, he ought to be hooted 
out of the State as not fit to be called a farmer. I have never been sick 
one whole day in thirty years, and there has been but one death in this 
neighborhood this season. A man can now come into this State and 
buy lands even as high as $15 per acre, and make them pay for them- 
selves far more easily than I could when I bought lands at $2 to $3 per 
acre. My advice to farmers in the East is to leave their rocks and hills, 
where they are just grubbing out a living, and come on to these splendid 
prairies as they lie all ready for the plough, and where every thing which 
the farmer plants yields such an abundant return. Last spring I thought 
I would go over into Iowa and see what the farmers were doing there, 
so I weat, and I'll tell you what I found. The land was held at higher 
prices /or cash, than you could buy on credit in this State ; all the best 
ef it was in the hands of speculators ; it was not a good winter wheat 
country ; fruit did not grow so as to be depended upon ; there was no 
interior market for produce, except the demand caused by emigration ; 
lumber, such as pine boards, cost about $75 per thousand feet, at the 
Fort, and salt $10 per barrel. There is more timber in my county, 
(Coles,) than I saw in any four in Iowa, and I came back perfectly satis- 
fied that there is no State in the whole West equal to Illinois, after all 
that can be said in favor of the others. 

These, gentlemen, are my scattering thoughts on things as they have 
passed before my own eyes during thirty years residence in this State, 
or travelling over the neighboring ones. You can use them as you see 

fit, while I subscribe myself. 

Yours, very truly, 

JOHN WILLIAMS. 



29 



LETTER FROM REV. JOHN S. BARGER, 

giving his expkrience in breaking up and cultivating a farm in 
the vicinity of the rail-road. 

Clinton, De Witt Co., Illinois, ) 
January 22, 1855. j 

Hon. John Wilson, Land Commissioner : 

Dear Sir, — Yours of the 8th ult. was received a few days since, and 
I BOW answer it, as soon as has been consistent with other obligations. 

The statistical information, in the form of facts, substantiated by 
farmers throughout the State, which you propose embodying in your 
contemplated circular, designed to show "the result of well-directed 
efforts in Illinois farming," and to which I have the honor of being re- 
quested to contribute, I regret to say, I am not so well prepared to give 
in detail, as many others, from whom doubtless you will obtain it. 
Nevertheless, I may at least say, that in your very complimentary re- 
mark, you judge correctly in part, that " among those who have broken 
up the wild prairie, and by judicious management realized large profits," 
I have been " very successful." Yet, when the fact is known, as it should 
be, in order to form a correct judgment in my case, that I have been an 
itinerant minister in the M. E. Church, without any cessation, since 
1823, (the 20th year of my age,) it will be reasonably concluded that I 
would have been yet more successful had my efforts and management 
been directed by the superior skill of a well-trained and practical 
farmer. 

But, as you have particularly requested the facts in my own case, as 
heretofore explained to you, I here offer these facts, taken from my 
memoranda, for whatever use you may think proper to make of them, 
and will leave the other details you desire to other hands, better pre- 
pared to give them. 

From 1848 to 1850, I purchased, in De Witt County, and nearly- 
adjoining Clinton, (the County seat,) 400 acres of fine farming land, 
through which the Illinois Central Railway passes, and, in the vicinity, 
three timbered lots, containing 140 acres, making 540, at a cost of 
$1,513 19. In the spring of 1853 I determined to make my farm, and 
accordingly contracted for the breaking of 300 acres, at $600 ; also, for 
making 400 rods of fence, at $4 15 per 100 rails in the fence, $494 19 ; 
making, together, $1,094 19. Having obtained the privilege of joining 



30 

to 720 rods of fence on adjoining farms, I tlius enclosed 360 acres, and 
had 280 prepared for seeding. 

The breaking was done from Uie 27th of May to the 9th of July. 
The greater portion of this ploughed land might, therefore, have been 
planted in corn, and harvested in time for seeding with wheat ; and , 
thus I might have added considerably to the avails of the first year, had 
I not been 80 miles distant, engaged in the labors of the Jacksonville 
district. 

I paid for seeding 300 acres, . 

" " 325 bushels seed wheat, . 

Add the cost of making the farm, . 
I paid for harvesting, threshing, sacking and 

delivering at the Clinton Depot, distant 

from the farm from i to li miles, . 
Making the entire expenditure, . . 
Sold at the Clinton Depot, 4,378|f bushels 

wheat, for ..... . 

I kept for bread, ..... 

Making the gross income of the first year of 
From which take the entire expenditure, . 

And you have the nett proceeds of the first year, . 
To which add the cost of making the farm 

Making entire avails of the first year, . 

Furthermore, to do justice to the productiveness of the soil, and to 
show what the well-directed eff'orts and judicious management of a well- 
trained and practical Illinois farmer would have done, it should be stated 
that, at least in my judgment, some 1,500 bushels of wheat were wasted 
by untimely and careless harvesting and threshing, equal to $1,500 net 
proceeds. Then add $55 33, excess of payments for ploughing and 
seeding only 280 acres, which a skilful farmer would have known before 
making his contracts, and you have a loss, which ought to have been a 
gain, of $1,555 33. This amount saved would have showed the avails 
of the first year's operation, on 280 acres of the farm, to have been 
$3,860 40. 

Now, sir, if one under such circumstances, with but little more than 
a theoretical knowledge of farming, has succeeded even thus well, hav- 



$230 00 




243 75 




1,094 19 


$1,567 94 


1,650 00 






3,217 94 


4,378 82 




50 00 






4,428 82 


• 


3,217 94 


ar, . 


$1,210 88 


• 


1,094 19 


• 


$2,305 07 



31 

ing hired all the labor, and mostly at very high prices, how much larger 
profits might have been realized by a skillful and practical farmer, de- 
voting his whole time and attention to his appropriate occupation. How 
much more successful thousands of farmers and farmers' sons on our 
Eastern seaboard and in our Eastern States might be, were they, or 
could they, be induced to move on, and apply their skill, industry and 
economy in the cultivation of the rich and productive prairies of Illinois ? 
Let them come, by thousands and tens of thousands — there is room 
enough — and examine the country. They will find rich lands and good 
water, and general health, almost everywhere. This is not a wilderness. 
They will find schools and churches springing up in almost every settle- 
ment made, and now being made, throughout the State. Illinois is not 
a moral desolation. It literally and spiritually " blossoms as the rose." 
Let them come to Chicago, and go to Galena, and visit Cairo. But let 
them not remain at either place, unless they choose. The Illinois Cen- 
tral Rail-Road and its branches traverse the finest portion of the globe. 
Let them glide through our State, on these and other roads, now check- 
ering almost the entire of this " Garden of the Lord," and stop where 
they will, to " examine the land, of what sort it is," and they will no 
longer consent to dig among the rocks, and plough the sterile lands of 
their forefathers. But they will long bless the day when they found for 
themselves and their children such comfortable homes as they still may 
obtain, in this rich and beautiful prairie State, destined soon to com- 
pare with, nay, to surpass, in all the most desirable respects, the most 
prosperous State in the Union. 

I will now give you a concise history of the operations of Mr. Funk. 
Both before and since his marriage, he had made rails for his neighbors 
at twenty-five cents per 100. But when the lands where he lived came 
into market, 25 years ago, he had saved of his five years' earninofs 
$1,400, and says, if he had invested it all in lands he would now have 
been rich. With $200 he bought his first quarter section, and loaned 
to his neighbors $800, to buy their homes ; and with the remaining 
S400 he purchased a lot of cattle. With this beginning, Mr. Funk now 
owns 7,000 acres of land, has near 2,700 in cultivation, and his last 
year's sale of cattle and hogs, at the Chicago market, amounted to a 
little over $44,000. 

Mr. Isaac Funk, of Funk's Grove, nine miles distant from his brother 
Jesse, and ten miles northwest from Bloomington, on the Mississippi 
and Chicago Rail-Road, began the world in Illinois at the same time, 
having a little the advantage of Jesse, so far as having a little borrowed 



32 

capital. He now owns about 27,000 acres of land, has about 4,000 
acres in cultivation, and his last sales of cattle at Chicago amounted 
to $65,000. 

These families have enjoyed almost uninterrupted health. Mr. Isaac 
Funk has had 10 children, and Mr. Jesse Funk 8. In the family of 
Isaac, one died of fever ; and in that of Jesse, one by an accidental falf 
from a wagon. 

Yours, truly, 

JOHN S. BARGER. 



LETTER FROM JAMES PHILLIPS. 

Nashville, Washington Co., III., ) 
December 26th, 1855. f 

J. B. Austin, Esq. : 

Dear Sir, — For the information of those who design coming West, I 
forward you the following thoughts about our country — a portion of 
this great valley which has been, to a great extent, hitherto overlooked 
by emigrants. Until quite recently we were, to a great degree, cut off 
from a market. Produce could not be transported to our great thorough- 
fares, the freight, in many instances, costing more than the article would 
bring when taken to the nearest shipping point. Now, however, the 
case is quite different. A market has been created by rail-roads at our 
own homes, for every article the tiller of the soil produces. Formerly 
our farmers raised their products, then fed the same to their horses, 
cattle, sheep, hogs, &c., looking forward from one to four years for a 
time when this stock could be advantageously cashed. Now his corn, 
wheat, oats, beans, hay, &c., command fair rates at the nearest depot so 
soon as delivered, thus giving him a quick return, instead of the long 
one he previously received. 

Our climate is temperate. We neither have the protracted cold of 
the lakes of the North, nor the sultry heat of the South. This country 
will compare favorably with any other portion of the Mississippi valley 
for health. We are exempt from the consumption of the Eastern 
States, from the low fevers of the Southern States, and comparatively 
free from those miasmatic diseases of the Western States in their early 
settlement ; and in proportion as our country is tilled, as the primeval 
surface gives place to cultivation, will these latter disappear also. Ex- 
©ellent water is obtained at an average depth, almost anywhere, of 



33 

twenty feet. Our soil is of an exeellent quality, surface pleasantly 
undulating, enough so to avoid swamps on tlie one hand, and not too 
broken on the other. Timber is both good and plentiful. Some ol 
our prairies are a little larger than we could desire, but in them hedgcvs 
thrive for fencing, so well, indeed, that many of our farmers are hedg- 
ing who have an abundance of timber near by their farms. Our popu- 
lation is rapidly increasing by the influx of an intelligent and well-to-do 
class of people. 

We have the land here that can now produce 100 bushels corn to 

an acre, or at least the stalks are now standing from which Mr. G , 

our sheriff, gathered that amount. There is a farmer near by me, who 
ploughed up in the summer a piece of land of a medium quality ; in 
the fall, he put it down in wheat, and the following harvest (the last 
summer) he took oti" between thirty and forty bushels to the acre, and 
this without any particular or special care about it. Oats, rye, barley, 
buckwheat, beans, peas, potatoes and most garden vegetables, that grow 
in temperate climates, flourish here luxuriantly. A friend of mine, last 
spring, a young farmer, planted a peck of potatoes ; his family consisted 
of himself, wite and two children ; they made almost daily use of his 
potatoes from the time there were any small ones to be found, until 
digging time, when he took out nine bushels of potatoes for winter use. 
A remark here : None of these lands were manured ; that is a word 
not to be found in our farmer's lexicon. Not that manuring would 
not pay, but what is the use ? All we have to do is to turn down with 
a sod plough at the rate of two or three acres a day, stick in the corn 
with an axe, and come out in the fsill for the crop. Or, if we wish to 
sow wheat, all we liave to do is to harrow a couple of times, and sow- 
down the wheat. No lands, perhaps, under the sun, are capable of 
being rendered more fertile and productive by rotation of crops and all 
the appliances of scientific husbandry. 

There is Mr. K' , who came here a poor adventurer, with 

nothing of this world's goods ; he went to farming, continued it assid- 
uously, turning his farm produce into stock, his stock into cash, and 
his cash into lands. He is now worth about fifty thousand dollars. 

A son of the preceding, commenced about ten years ago doing busi- 
ness for himself He had about one thousand dollars to start witb, 
and has gone on increasing his wealth at the rate of a thousand a year. 
This was done exclusively by farming. 

Colonel P came here as one of the early pioneers of this 

country, went to tilling the land, followed it up to the present time 



34 

engaging in nothing else ; he is now worth about twenty thousand, 
having begun with less than one hundred dollars. These are a few ot 
many that might be given. One remark about this country : One fair 
crop of any of the usual grains grown here is worth, when harvested, 
what the land will cost ; so that an emigrant can easily calculate whqt 
he can do on an average. Thus, if he can plant and till one hundred* 
acres of land by putting in corn or wheat, he can pretty safely estimate 
that when he threshes his wheat, or cribs his corn, that it will be 
worth the prime cost of his one hundred acres of land. This is not 
all ; for when his land is ploughed and fenced it is worth double what 
it was before subjugation. 

In conclusion I would say, we are not crowded by reason of the 
density of our population. "We need a large increase of intelligent, 
industrious, persevering young farmers. As yet but about one-fourth 
of our lands are fenced ; and we have but a tithe of the wealth and 
population we shall have when this great valley shall become the agri- 
cultural centre of the earth, and Illinois its most favored spot. 

Yours respectfully, 

JAMES PHILLIPS. 



LETTER FROM A. J. GALLOWAY. 

■FARM IN THE VICINITY OF THE COMPANY'S LANDS. 

EwiNGTON, Effingham Co., III., ) 
February 12, 1855. [ 

Hon. John Wilson, 

Land Commissioner, Illinois Central Railroad : 

Dear Sir, — My residence in Illinois began in April, 1837. During 
the first four years I resided in Wabash County, after which I removed 
t@ the northern part of the State, and in 1842, purchased some lands 
in La Salle County. From that until the present time, I have been 
making, cultivating and extending my farm. 

The subsoil of the prairie land throughout the State, with a few ex- 
ceptions, is a compact clay, through which water settles but slowly, 
thus securing great durability to the natural soil, as well as etfectually 
preventing the escape of artificial manures, by the process of leeching. 
Upon very level prairie, this characteristic causes the land to be too 
wet for the profitable cultivation of the several kinds of grain, without 



35 

some special preparation ; this, however, may be almost universally 
overcome by manuring, and deep and thorough ploughing; deep 
ploughing alone will prove effectual in a lai'ge majoiity of instances. 

South of the parallel of forty-one degrees north latitude, the staple 
production is, and must continue to be, Indian corn or maize, though 
almost all grain and vegetables, grown in a temperate climate, may be 
profitably cultivated, and should not be neglected. 

During my residence upon my farm in La Salle County, our average 
crop of corn, say on a field of eighty acres, did not vary much from fifty 
bushels per acre. Winter wheat (for I think spring wheat a nuisance), 
upon a field of thirty acres, varied in different years from nineteen to 
twenty-three bushels per acre, harvested with McCorraick's Reaper, and 
threshed and separated by machines built at Alton, Illinois. Oats va- 
ried from forty to sixty bushels per acre, and in one instance, upon a 
small lot of four acres, I obtained almost one hundred bushels per acre. 

My estimate for the cost of pi'oduction and preparation for market, 
previous to 1850, after allowing thirty-three per cent, of the crop for 
the use of the land, was forty cents per bushel for wheat, and about 
fifteen cents per bushel for corn and oats. 

I could usually obtain good farm hands (men) at one hundred to one 
hundred and twenty dollars per year, with board and lodging furnished. 

The many difficulties with which a single h;ind upon a farm has to 
contend, render it hard to say what one man, with a pair of horses, can 
cultivate properly — certainly not to exceed forty acres; whereas, two 
men, with four horses, could readily manage a hundi'ed acres, and 
three men, with about five horses, one hundred and sixty acres, in ad- 
dition to the usual amount of land devoted to meadow and grasses. 

In reply to your ninth interrogatory, I would say that south of the 
parallel I have mentioned, nearly one-half of the whole f;irm devoted 
to grain and vegetables, should be planted in corn, and three-fourths of 
the remainder in wheat and oats, in about equal quantities. The cul- 
tivation of barley, rye, potatoes, &c., should be governed by the char- 
acter of the farm, its position in relation to markets, and somewhat by 
the tastes, education and habits of the farmer. 

In La Salle County, where woodland is not so plenty as it is in this 
region, a good common rail fence would cost about seventy-five cents 
per rod, but I have contracted for a number of miles of such fence, 
eight rails high, staked and riddered, with a sound block under each 
corner, to be built in this and some other counties for the Illinois Cen- 
tral Railroad, at the rate of fifty cents |)ei- rod. 



36 

I have tried different methods of turning up or breaking prairie sod, 
and am fully satisfied that where the prairie is clear, that is, destitute of 
hazel-bushes or other woody growth, a man who understands the busi- 
ness, with a good pair of horses and a plough properly constructed, 
such as was manufactured a few years since in Indian Town, Bureau 
County, can do the work better and cheaper than in any other way 
that has ever come under my observation. One acre and a half per 
day is the fair average for such a team. Prairie should always be 
broken between the 10th of May and the 20th of June, in the latitude 
of La Salle County. In this county the work should be completed as 
early as the 10th of June. 

For persons wishing to make a settlement in Illinois, I should advise 
about the same course for almost any part of the State with which I 
am acquainted. The first thing such person should do is to make a 
pereonal examination of the country, and select a location. Then, if 
he should have the means to spare, and could purchase forty or eighty 
acres of good prairie land, not more than five miles from where mate- 
rials for building, fencing and fuel can be obtained, at reasonable rates, 
and get a long credit upon three-fourths of the purchase money, I 
should advise him to secure it at once. 

He should then procure a good pair of horses and wagon, a cow, a 
few pigs, and some poultry, and two good ploughs, one for breaking 
prairie and the other for cultivating laud already subdued. Thus pro- 
vided, it would be well if he could rent a small tenement with a few 
acres of improved land near his own, for a year or two, until he could 
get his farm under way. But if no such tenement could be obtained, 
he should at once build a cheap house upon his own land, and push 
forward his improvements. 

Prairie sod broken in the manner and at the time heretofore stated, 
will be sufficiently rotten to cross plough as early as the tenth of Au- 
gust. This cross ploughing should not be, neglected, and in the north 
of the State wheat should be sown broad-cast, and harrowed both ways, 
or drilled in by a proper machine, about the first of September. Wheat 
sown upon such land in this manner, rarely fiiils to produce an excellent 
crop. The next two years after the wheat is taken oflf the ground, two 
good crops of corn may be produced, with comparatively little labor. 
Oats is perhaps the pi'oper grain for the fourth crop ; and by that time, 
if the new settler be a man of reasonably perceptive powers, he will have 
made himself sufficiently well acquainted with the soil, climate, rotation 
of crops, etc., to manage his farm to good advantage. Much may bo 



m 

learned from the many agricultural periodicals with whi(;h our country 
abounds, and no farmer should be without one or more of these valuable 
aids. But, to succeed well, he must thoroughly investigate the local 
peculiarities of his own neighborhood, and especially those of his own 
farm. 

There is a general and growing disposition throughout the State to 
educate ; and in a very few years all the educational facilities which exist 
in the Eastern States will be at the command of the citizens of Illinois. 

There is little disease at any time in the State, which may not be 
traced, directly or indirectly, to derangement in the biliary organs, and 
much of this should, no doubt, be attributed to the free use of heavy 
bread, strong coffee, and a large amount of animal food, to the partial 
«r total exclusion of vegetable diet. I think I am free from prejudice 
when I say that, except in the valleys of the larger streams, but more 
especially upon the high rolling prairies of Middle and Northern Illinois, 
a more healthy country is not to be found, even in the mountainous 
districts of the older States. 

In these hasty lines I have endeavored to answer some of your inter- 
rogatories as categorically as their nature would permit, without at- 
tempting to sustain my opinions by argument. If they should prove 
of the least service to you or others, I shall be more than compensated 
for the very little time and attention which I have felt at liberty to be- 
stow upon them. 

Respectfully, 

Your ob't serv't, 

A. J. GALLOWAY. 



LETTER FROM C. G. TAYLOR. 

Ridge, Rock Isla? 
February 8th^ 1855 



Pleasant Ridge, Rock Island Co., III., ) 



Hon. John Wilson : 

Dear Sir, — I was raised in Jefferson County, N. Y., in and among 
the log cabins, stumps, rocks, and snow banks. My father was a faimer. 
I know full well what it costs to farm in Northern New York, fiom the 
felling of the first tree to the farm under good cultivation. I moved to 
this State in the spring of 1844, and have been engaged in farming most 
of the time since. The soil of Illinois is a dark, rich mould, varying 
from two to six feet in depth, with clay bottom. There is but little sandy 



38 

soil in this part of the State. About one-tenth is covered with timber, 
and that is usually on the borders of our rivers and small streams. 
Timber land is held at from $10 to $50 per acre, according to location 
and quality. 

Our water is usually hard. There are not many springs, owing to 
the lowness of the land ; but water is easily obtained by digging, and 
usually found in abundance at the depth of from ten to twenty-five feet. 
There is, in general, a great supply of water for cattle, in our ravines 
and sloughs. 

Stone and brick for cellars are scarce on our prairies, but cement, 
plastered on a mud wall, answers very well, and makes a neat and dry 
cellar. Fencing materials are also scarce. Pine lumber and oak posts 
are now mostly used by the new settlers. This kind of fence can be put up 
at about 80 to 90 cents per rod ; depending, however, somewhat on the 
distance it has to be hauled. Materials for building are procured in 
rafts on our rivers, or at Chicago, and taken by team or railroad to any 
part of the State. 

The breaking of prairie is mostly done in May and June, and gener- 
ally with ox-teams of four or six yoke — the plough cutting a furrow 
from sixteen to twenty-two inches wide, and about three inches deep. 
Of late, however, so many improvements have been made in the form 
and draught of ploughs, that much of our vast prairie lands can easily be 
broken with one pair of horses, which can plough from one and a quar- 
ter to one and a half acres per day, which is preferable to that done 
with a large plough. This, every farmer can do with his own team, 
and cheaper than to hire and pay $2 50 per acre. I broke fifteen acres 
last summer, at the rate of one and a half acres per day, with a pair of 
mares, each having colts, and did it to perfection. The ploughs are 
made at Moline, in this county, at the rate of one hundred and fifty per 
week, by J. Drew. They are made of the best German steel, for $16. 
A rolling coulter is better. These ploughs are scattered, by railroads, 
all over the State. 

Sod corn, if planted in the month of May, and the weather is not too 
warm, will yield, per acre, from twenty to forty bushels. The planting 
is done by sticking an axe or a spade between the layers of sod, and, 
after dropping the corn, apply the heel of the boot freely. It needs no 
culture. If a very light crop of corn is raised, the stalks may be re- 
moved and the ground sown with winter wheat. If a heavy crop of 
corn is raised, it will take too much work to clear the ground of the 
stalks, and the stumps and roots will be a great hindrance to the harrow, 



39 

as the corn roots arc strongly set in the sod. As sod corn cannot be 
relied on with safety, it is, perhaps, better to let the sod lie until Septem- 
ber, and then sow with wheat, and harrow thoroughly. This is almost 
invariably a sure crop, more so than any of the after ones, as the sod 
holds the roots during our usually dry and snowless winter. Or, the 
sod may lie till spring, and then be sown with spring wheat, and har- 
rowed only. Let it be cross-ploughed, and we have what no field can 
be in the Eastern States, with all the manure combined. The soil being 
a black mould, and very mellow, any thing will grow in it that grows 
in this latitude. Spring wheat and oats are liable to grow too rank. 
They should be sown as soon as the frost is out of the ground, that the 
straw may have a stunted growth. If sown late, say after the first of 
April too much straw is grown, which is liable to cause the wheat to 
blast smut, &c. We have no summer fallows in this section, having 
seen none in Illinois. We raise but little winter wheat after the first 
crop, on the first breaking, until we break up a tame meadow or pas- 
ture ; then again we have a fine crop. Our usual mode of raising spring 
wheat, oats, and barley, is to sow on the fall ploughing, or on corn 
ground without ploughing, only harrowing. I raised over twenty-five 
bushels per acre of the best of wheat last year, on corn ground, without 
ploughing, and sixty bushels of oats. One team can do the work on a 
farm of fifty or sixty acres, if all the breaking is done. All stubble land 
should be ploughed in the fall, and be ready for the small grain in the 
spring. One man and two horses can easily tend thirty to forty acres 
of corn, one ploughing for which is sufiicient ; then mark off both ways, 
rows about three and a half feet wide, and plant the seed with a machine 
or a hoe. A man can cover four acres per day ; a small boy can drop 
the seed. Harrow with a three-cornered harrow, by knocking out the 
forward teeth, as soon as the corn is out of the ground, then use the 
cultivator or one-horse plough, and work it both ways ; twice working 
after harrowing is sufiicient ; no hoeing required. A fair yield of winter 
wheat is about twenty-five bushels per acre ; spring wheat, twenty to 
thirty ; oats, forty to seventy-five ; barley, twenty to forty ; winter rj-e, 
twenty to thirty ; corn, forty to eighty; potatoes, one hundred to three 
hundred. 

We commence to harvest our corn about the 10th of October. There 
is moie harvested in December than in any other month. Corn can be 
raised and cribbed at 12i cents per bushel. Our small grain is all cut 
by machinery. A machine followed by six binders, cuts and shocks from 
ten to fifteen acres per day. Price of cutting, 50 to 62-J cents per acre. 



40 

To binders, we pay from $1 to $1 25 per day. As it is impossible to 
house all the grain, it is stacked. Threshing is also done by machinery. 
This, with cleaning, will cost 5 cents per bushel for wheat; oats, 2^ 
cents. The straw is usually stacked, to which the cattle have free access 
during the winter. , 

Our market is at Chicago or St. Louis. No part of our State is fai* 
from railroad or steamboat shipping, having about 1,800 miles of the 
former now in good running order, and about 1,000 miles of river 
navigation. 

Our charges correspond with the Eastern market, with the freight 
charge deducted. 

Our soil is well calculated for the production of the tame grasses. 
Our meadows yield from one and a half to three tons per acre. Ground 
that has been mown for ten or fifteen years, produces better crops than 
the new land, because the top soil, which is principally composed of de- 
cayed grass and the ashes deposited by annual burnings, is very loose 
and open. After deep ploughing, and comparatively using up this top 
soil, we obtain a more compact and fine soil, which will hold the 
roots of the grass firm and secure. Clover grows luxuriantly, but the 
trouble is, there is not a sufficient quantity sown to supply the great 
demand. 

There has, until lately, but little attention been paid to the raising of 
stock. At this present time we can boast of being equal to the other 
States, in some choice selections of the best stock in the Union. Only 
a small portion of prairie is yet broken. The cattle roam as upon a 
" thousand hills" during the summer ; but in the winter are fed upon 
straw, standing corn-stalks, and prairie hay. Very little corn-fodder is 
Gut and cured, being too heavy to handle. Probably nine-tenths of our 
hay, as yet, is cut upon the prairie, which makes, if well cured, excel- 
lent feed. Any quantity of this hay can be cut in any section, yielding 
from one to three tons per acre. I have fed, for several winters, be- 
tween sixty and ninety head of cattle upon prairie hay, and have not 
lest a single one by disease. Our hay is cut by mowing machines, at 
50 to 62-2 cents per acre. It costs, counting work, board of hands, &c., 
about one to two dollars per ton in the stack. The feed for a cow, 
aside from grain, will not exceed $3 per year. Our pasture is free. Our 
prairie grass is fully equal to tame grass for butter, cheese, &c., up to 
the time of frost, which is usually about the lOth of October. The pro- 
duct from my dairy of about thirty -five cows, for the last six years, has 
been on an average about $20 per cow, besides the slop for hogs, and 



41 

the feed for nearly as many calves. Last year the price of butter in 
tbis part of the State was twelve and a halt" cents per pound ; cheese 
nine to twelve and a half cents. I think these figures will be near the 
standard for years to come. 

In regard to fruit, I would just mention that Whiteside County, Illi- 
nois, took the first prize at New York last fall. Apple trees to anv 
amount and of all varieties, can be had in our nurseries from 12^ to 15 
cents apiece. No new or old settler should fail to raise the Osage 
Orange or Madura hedge. With proper care, in four years he will have 
a living fence, the entire cost of which will not have exceeded 25 cents 
per rod. How beautiful Avill our State appear, in a few more years, with 
our fiirms surrounded by this evergreen shrub. There is no State in 
the Union that can suppoit so large a population as Illinois. Now not 
more than onc-twelfuh part of the surface is under cultivation. There is 
scarcely an acre that can be called waste ground. We have no moun- 
tains nor rocks ; no stumps to grub out ; no stones to pick off, and 
seldom a snow-bank to wallow through. I believe if this State was 
cultivated as New York or Massachusetts, it would feed the Union. The 
population is about 1,000,000. A grant of one thirty-sixth part of land 
is set apart by Congress for public schools. Our State debt will all be 
paid in a few years by the internal resources, without the increase of 
taxation. This debt has been a bug-bear to some of our Eastern friends, 
declining to locate with us, for fear of being obliged to help pay it. 
Tbis objection is now removed. Why the Eastern emigrants seek a 
home in Nebraska, Minnesota, or even in Iowa, is strange to my mind. 
Illinois has all the advantages that any reasonable man could desire. 
Our railroads are now so connected that we have access to any part of 
the Union, and the Eastern market is brought to our very doors. 

For the information of some who are desirous to know more definite 
particulars, I will here add the course pursued by my first neighbor, 
William Waite, in starting his prairie farm. In the spring of 1853 ke 
bought eighty acres of prairie, for $4 50 per acre, making 

Whole '^alue of the entire farm to be only . . $360 
Broke GO acres, at $2 50 per acre, . . .150 
Fenced 60 acres, at $1 per rod, 400 rods of board 

fence, ....... 400 

Sowed 40 acres with winter wheat, 1\ bushels to 

the acre, at $1 per bushel .... 60 

Sowing and harrowing, 75 cents per acre. . . 30 



42 

Harvesting and marketing, $1 50 per acre . . $60 
Threshing and cleaning 1,100 bushels, at 10 cents 

per bushel, . . . . . .110 

Hauling 15 miles to railroad, 6 cents per bushel, 06 — $1,236 

Planted twenty acres with corn : 
Ploughing 20 acres in the spring, at 75 cents, . $15 
Marking off and planting, . . . . .15 
Cultivating, at |1 25 per acre, .... 25 
Harvesting, at $1 per acre, .... 20 

Threshing and hauling 15 miles to railroad, 1,000 

bushels, at 10 cents per bushel, . . .100 $1Y5 

Total cost of farm and crops, . . . $1,411 



1,100 bushels of wheat, at $1 15 per bushel, $1,265 
1,000 bushels of corn, at 28 cents per bushel, . 280 

Total amount of crops, .... $1,545 



Profits of 60 acres, after paying all expenses, &c., . ' 

and 20 acres of land unbroken. This farm is now worth $25 per acre. 

Respectfully yours, 

C. G. TAYLOR. 



LETTER FROM W. H. MUNN, ESQ., MARSHALL CO., ILL. 

Hon. John Wilson : 

Dear Sir, — Yours of the 2d instant, containing many important 
questions relative to what an industrious farmer can do on the prairies 
of Illinois, has been received, and though I am very busy at this time 
grafting, I will not delay giving you a brief reply. 

You ask me to state my own case, but I wish to be excused, for I 
have devoted the most of my time and attention to the cultivation of the 
Madura hedge plant, ever since I have been a resident of the State. 

An industrious man, who has but a small capital ($200 to $400) to 
commence with, can soon have a farm, of one hundred and sixty acres, 
in a good state of cultivation, provided he has health, and is a good 
economist. 



43 

lu the first place he must put up ;i shanty of some kind to live in; 
then some kind of a cheap fence that will turn cattle and horses, (these 
being the only stock permitted to run at l.irge,) for four or five years, 
and by that time he can have a good living fence that will turn all kinds 
of stock, and be as durable almost as the land upon which it stands. 

About the 1st of May is the time to commence breaking prairie. A 
good pair of horses will turn fiom one and a half to two acres per day. 

What is not planted in corn should be sown in fall wheat, and will 
generally turn off about twenty bushels per acre. New land is the best 
for wheat, and the third crop is considered the best for corn. 

Prairie breaking is worth from $2 to $2 25 per acre. Good hands 
demand here, for the last two years, from $1*75 to |200 per annum. 

After the first year's crop, we get from ten to twenty bushels of wheat 
per acre, and from thirty to fifty of corn. An industrious man can 
manage eighty acres, by having a little help in seed time and harvest. 
The prairie grass makes excellent hay for cattle and horses. It is some- 
what difiicult to sell the crop in the field, as every man has as much of 
his own raising to harvest as he can get done in good time. 

I have travelled considerably, but I know of no other State that affords 
to the farmer so many conveniences as this one. It costs but little to 
make a farm, and when it is made it is a good one — one that, with 
proper management, will always yield a good crop, which, delivered at 
some railroad station, will always bring a good price. Improvements 
pay well, should you wish to sell the farm. 

The above was written in great haste, and the half is not told. You 
may use it if you think it will be of any service to you or any one. 
Yours, very respectfully, 

W. H. MUNN. 



ILLINOIS THROUGH MASSACHUSETTS SPECTACLES. 

Permit me, as a Massachusetts farmer, under the above heading, to 
give a faint glimpse of some matters and things in the Prairie State — as 
seen through ray glasses. 

Every farmer knows well the benefit of crossing his stock, and it may 
be that ideas improve under a similar law ; at the worst, I shall be safe, 
as there is no possible danger for me to lose by the cross, but have 
every chance to gain. 

It will not do for the New-England man to come here and carry out 



44 

all of his notions of economy ; his ideas will be altogether too con- 
tracted ; he only knows of farming upon a limited scale, and " under 
difficulties." In this State, nature has done much for the husbandman, 
and his system of agriculture must be as broad and comprehensive as 
the prairies themselves. In New-England, there is more calculation, 
more order, more method, more finish ; the soil being so sterile the 
people have been necessitated to learn these sterling qualities. In this 
State, I am sorry to say, they seem but little practiced ; but there is no 
spot on the globe where it would pay better. It is true the land fever 
has raged extensively among your farmers, and they have invested every 
spare dollar in increasing the number of their acres, instead of building 
houses and barns, and purchasing farming utensils, and giving their 
homes an air of comfort ; and it has proved to be a good investment ; 
but there are very many who have secured the number of acres to 
satisfy them, who have all kinds of stock in abundance, and money be- 
sides, who do not Hve and enjoy the comforts of home and social life in 
so high a degree as the mechanic in New-England, who supports him- 
self and his femily upon one dollar and a half per day. This class of 
farmers have, no doubt, generally commenced poor, and struggled with 
all the disadvantages of a border life, until the introduction of railroads 
into the State, when they availed themselves of the benefits, and found 
fortunes in the sudden rise in the value of their estates, but have no 
desire, further, to improve their condition. 

So far as health is concerned, time will prove that the prairies of the 
West will compare well with any of the Eastern States. Eastern people 
have made a big bug-bear out of the miasina of the prairies ; but if 
they will turn their attention to the thousands of alder swamps between 
their hills, where the sun and wind are almost strangers, they will dis- 
cover more causes of ill-health concentrated there in a few acres, than 
is scattered over a whole prairie, where the purifying influences of the 
sun and wind have full scope. This season has been an unusually un- 
healthy one for this State ; but during the most sickly time, I was wan- 
dering over the prairies, and I saw but few instances where the ill-health 
could not be directly traced to infringements of physical laws, either 
through ignorance or necessity. In some cases of chills and fever that 
have come under my observation, a few outward applications of soap 
and water no doubt would have relieved the patient. Then, again, if 
the pioneers would eat less pork, and more fruit and vegetables, it would 
be much better for them ; and I only wonder, all things considered, that 
there is so much health here, the people are such big sinners in a physi- 



oal point of view. Pure water is an important item in the bill of 
health, though it is but little attended to. People all over the prairies 
drink surface water, when with digging or boring, pure water can be 
had, or what might be still better for family use, cisterns can be sunk 
in the earth at a trifling expense, to save all of the rain water from 
buildings. When the new settlers get the conveniences of life around 
them, the prairies will be regarded as more healthy than the Eastern 
States. The fevers of the West will never be a match for the con- 
sumption of the East. 

Now to farming. At the East, large stories are in circulation about 
the productiveness of Illinois, and I am happy to say that I have seen 
with my own eyes crops of various kinds upon the soil which, if I should 
report them at the East, I should not be believed, though I have a decent 
reputation for truth there. For this fruitfulness, nature should receive 
all the thanks, the farmer none. Though blessed with the most pro- 
ductive soil, it is improved but poorly. At most, not one cultivator in 
ten can lay any claim to the name of farmer ; though it is true that 
circumstances have been very much against the development of the 
agricultural interest of this State, until the opening of the rail-roads. 
Now, farming has received such an impetus that it will soon come up 
to the standard it is destined to reach ; but so fertile is the soil, the 
extent of its capacity to produce is unlimited. Corn and wheat are 
the crops farmers mostly rely upon ; but barley, rye, beans, potatoes, 
onions, flax, and fruits of all kinds adapted to the State, in addition, 
will pay equally as well, and for a number of years, even better. In 
fact, the fiirmer cannot turn his attention to stock raising or the culti- 
vation of any crop, if he is a practical man and has any energy, without 
realizing a fortune, and, too, at prices far below the present. As an act 
of humanity and for the saving of thousands of tons of beef and pork, 
he should provide temporary sheds, if nothing more, for the protection 
of his flocks and herds. The cold winds on the prairies are as hai'd 
for cattle to bear, and they need as much shelter in the winter as in 
Massachusetts ; and pei'sons there, not providing shelter for their cat- 
tle, would be indicted for cruelty to dumb beasts. If beasts are ex- 
posed, the natural heat of the animal must be kept up with extra feed, 
or at the expense of the animal ; and the consequent result is, that in 
the spring, most of the cattle here are poor, and then it takes half the 
following summer to get them up again. 

At'ter spending a few months in travelling over this State, and seeing 
for myself, I have made an estimate of the production, or rather the 



46 

amount of produce a good farmer can sell from a section of land, after 
provisioning his family and assistants, and feeding the necessary teams 
to be employed upon a grain farm, taking the prairie in the wild state, 
and for the first years, commencing moderately, by ploughing one-third 
the first, two-thirds the second, and the whole the third, fourth and fifth 
years ; and I think that fifty thousand dollars can be realized, as the 
total I'eceipts for the five years' term. This estimate is for a grain farm, 
which should be located in the neighborhood of a depot. During these 
five years fruit trees and other improvements should be going on, to 
keep up with the age. The double plough should be used in breaking 
the sod, so that as good a crop can be had the first as succeeding years. 
From what I know of farming in New England, I should much rather 
prefer laud in this State, if I could get it upon a long credit, so as to 
put my capital into improvements, than to accept of one-half of the 
farms there with a free title to commence with. Practice the same 
energy and industry as would be necessary there, and a young man 
can earn his farm here, and be wealthier in ten years, than he could 
to have a farm presented him in New England to start with. One 
word about woodland and my long yarn shall break. Eastern men, 
on first coming into this State, sigh for more woodland, but they soon 
learn that there is coal enough below its surface to warm up the hearts 
and bodies of all of Uncle Sam's family, besides generating steam 
enough to drive all the engines in creation to all eternity. 

Then, again, in twenty years from this time, there will be twenty times 
as much forest as at present ; for as soon as the prairie fires ai'e stopped, 
timber starts up ; and trees every intelligent farmer is now planting, just 
where he wants them, to beautify and adorn his lands. Fencing ma- 
terial will be mostly; supplied by hedging, which will also tend to make 
this State what nature has designed it to be — the Eden of America. 

Pera Station, Dec. 29th, 1855. 

On Chicago Branch of Illinois C. H. H. 

L. G. CHASE. 



LETTER FROM DANIEL ARTER. 

Villa Ridge, III., Jan. 25, 1856. 
Hon. John Wilson, 

Land Commissioner : 

Dear Sir, — Understanding that you are desirous of obtaining infor- 
mation concerning the agricultural capabilities, general features, <kc., 



47 

of the southern, as well as other portions of Illinois, I cheerfully offer 
the following facts. 

For upwards of twenty years, I have been a permanent resident of 
the southern part of the State, located opposite Section 12 of the Illi- 
nois Central Railroad, (12 miles from Cairo,) and three-quarters of a 
mile from said road, in a westerly direction. During that period my 
attention has been mainly devoted to agriculture, and the practice of 
medicine — the pursuit of which calling will enable me to bear valuable 
testimony, perhaps, in behalf of, at least, the locality wherein I operated. 

The land I have cultivated has proved itself well adapted to the rais- 
ing of quite every kind of grain, fruits, vegetables, &c., which an 
agreeable medium of climate allows. 

The average yield of my farm, which is mainly hill land, not abruptly 
broken, however, and which (I can safely add) is the general character 
of the county (Pulaski) wherein I I'eside, has been about as follows : 
Corn, 40 to 45 bushels per acre. 
Wheat, 20 

Potatoes, 250 " " 

whilst oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, &c., grow in just proportion. 

Of fruits, I have ever had an abundant yield ; peaches, plums, quinces, 
cherries and pears being cultivated with remarkable success, so far as 
experiments have been made, whilst the culture of apples has never 
failed to reward abundantly all labor and expense bestowed. 

Vegetables, of almost every character, quite every description of 
grape and berry, grow astonishingly ; although little attention is now 
being paid to their cultivation. Much of the land is peculiarly adapted 
to the cultivation of the grape ; and nowhere do I know of a locality 
more fitly situated for an extensive gardening interest than that in ques- 
tion. Its situation is but a few miles from Cairo — a market rarely, if 
ever, overstocked with vegetables, owing to the great river demand — 
and sufficiently distant south from Chicago to enable the pioducer to 
ripen certain garden products a few weeks after the seeds of similar 
products begin to germinate so far north. 

The climate is happily exempt from all remarkable extremes. The 
country is abundantly supplied with never-failing springs of pure, cold 
water; is well timbered; generally provided with every necessary the 
wants of the settler demand, and bears a reputation for health among 
those familiar with the locality, which alone should render it a desirable 
place of residence, were every other feature less encouraging than here 
truthfully represented. I am, sir, your obt. servt, 

DANIEL ARTER. 



48 

LETTER FROM 11. H. HENDRICK. 

Batavia, Kane Co., III., Feb. 21, 1855. 

Hon. John Wilson : 

Dear Sir, — Your letter and circular of February 2d was received a 
few days since. Owing, I suppose, to the obstructions of the railroads 
by the snow, and further, as I have changed my place of resideuce, and 
purchased a small place near Batavia, your letter was first sent to North- 
ville, and then back to Batavia, which retarded it still longer. But I 
will now endeavor to answer your questions, from my own experience, 
as well as I can. 

When I first came to Illinois, in November, 1835, I had but small 
means to commence with in a new country. The next spring I went 
eighteen miles north of Chicago, and purchased a claim (as it was then 
called) of one hundred and sixty acres, and commenced improvements. 
I practiced surveying to some extent, which enabled me to purchase 
necessaries, till I could procure them from my own soil. After staying 
there six years, not liking that portion of the country very well, I sold 
out, and purchased upwards of two hundred acres on the west side of 
Fox River, twenty miles above Ottowa, for which I paid a little less than 
$2 50 per acre. I then commenced improving it ; and as my means 
were still very limited, I was obliged to proceed with caution. How- 
ever, I got up a house, fenced and broke up seventy acres in two seasons, 
with very little help. My plough cut about twenty or twenty -two inches, 
and I broke about two acres per day, with four yoke of cattle, the sod 
being very tough. I sometimes put on five yoke. I then sowed twenty 
acres with winter wheat, on ground from which one crop had been 
taken, and twenty acres of spring wheat, on new prairie, after the ground 
had been ploughed again in tlie spring. The whole was good, and 
yielded twenty bushels per acre, of the first quality. But, as wheat was 
then, and for several years afterwards, very low, and we had to transport 
it a longdistance to market with teams, it little more than paid the ex- 
pense of raising, &c. One year I had twenty-five bushels of wheat on 
ground from which one crop of corn had been taken ; and had the 
weather been not quite so hot a few days before harvest, I think it 
would have yielded thirty bushels. My average crops have been from 
fifteen to twenty-two bushels per acre ; one year, and only one, I had 
but thirteen and one-half bushels. 

The best way, I think, to raise winter wheat on new prairie, is to 



49 

break it in June very shallow, and cross-plough it a little deeper than it 
was broke, about the end of August; then sow and harrow it well, and 
leave it as rough as you can. If among corn, sow about the last of 
August or first of September, and put in with a double shovel plough, 
by goino- twice in a row. Stock must not be allowed to run on it, un- 
less the ground is covered with snow. The stalks must be cut or broken 
down in the spring. To break them down, I take a pole, ten or twelve 
feet in length, and hitch a team to it so as to draw it sideways, when 
the snow is off, and the ground and stalks frozen, and break three rows 
at once. One man and team will break thirty acres in a day. I roll 
all my small grain in the spring, and think it grows evener, and I know 
it is better harvesting. Wheat does well on the sod, if put in as I de- 
scribe, often yielding twenty bushels or more per acre. Corn, on sod, 
is rather precarious. I have never tried it to any extent, but some 
have raised twenty or thirty bushels per acre. 

My method of raising corn is to plough the ground deep, then mark 
it one way with my single shovel plough, about five inches deep and 
about four feet apart each way ; (any thing that will make a mark will 
do for one way ;) the corn is then dropped four kernels in a hill. I then 
take my two-shovel plough, and set the shovels apart, so as to drive the 
horse in the furrow, and turn the dirt from each side on the corn. This 
plan I find is very beneficial in wet weather, in carrying the surplus 
water off the hills. Just as it comes up, I take my harrow, and knock 
the centre teeth back so as not to drag up the corn ; I then take my 
team and drive with one horse on each side of the row, taking one row 
at a time, and harrow it all over. This leaves the ground in fine con- 
dition. After a few days, I take my two-shovel plough, and go through 
it twice in a row, both ways ; and if I have time, I go through it three 
times. This leaves the ground in fine order, and the corn, I think, fills 
out much better. I have grown corn with stalks upwards of nine feet 
in length, and ears thirteen inches in length, and nine and a half inches 
in circumference ; but these were extraordinary specimens, having grown 
where some straw had^een burned the fell before. My corn is a larger 
kind than most of that grown throughout the country, and yields from 
fifty to seventy or eighty bushels per acre. The time for planting is 
from the first to the middle of May, or even earlier. One man can tend 
forty acres, provided he can have help to go through with it with the 
plough the first time. 

I have raised fifty bushels of oats per acre, and nearly two hundred 
bushels of potatoes ; but they are not so sure. I find by experience 

4 



that they do best planted about the middle of May, that they may be 
well advanced by the time the hot weather comes on ; or not till after 
the middle of June, that they may have the benefit of the Septem- 
ber rains. But last season, late planted potatoes with us were almost 
an entire failure. I find, by experience, that crops of all kinds do best 
put in early. 

For grazing, I think our lands may be ranked among the best, if 
rightly managed. The dry land, stock down with red clover, or timothy 
and clover ; and the wet portions, with red top. Clover does extremely 
well, and yields an abundant supply of feed. Timothy does better after 
the land has been cultivated for a short time. A slight dressing of ma- 
nure, to change the nature of the soil, is a great help to it. Selling 
crops on the ground is not much practiced ; but, as a general rule, I be- 
lieve, about twice the freight from the station to Chicago may be con- 
sidered the difference in the price of produce at the station. Help last 
season was scarce, and wages very high ; varying from $14 to $18 per 
month, for seven or eight months together. The increase in value per 
acre would depend much on the size of the tract cultivated. A small 
farm would be worth more per acre, with the same improvements, than a 
very large one. For example, take IGO acres, purchased at $10 per acre : 
First cost on 160 acres, at $10 per acre, . . . $1,600 00 
Breaking one hundred acres, at $2 25, . . . 225 00 
160 rods fence, on front side, or road, $1 per rod, . 160 00 

Half of the other three sides, 240 00 

Building house, &c., 500 00 

Fruit trees, &c., ....... 25 00 



Amounting to . 



^2,750 00 



It is probably now worth $25 per acre, which will be $4,000 00 

Leaving a profit for owner of 1,250 00 

Or, at $20 per acre, still leaves a balance of . . 450 00 

It is probable that the fence may be built for a little less than one 
dollar per rod ; but as I have made no allowance for cross-fences, 
yards, (fee, and calculated only half of three sides, and one whole side 
for the road, I think the excess of price will not more than pay the ex- 
pense of building the necessary fences inside. I have also left sixty 
acres for meadow and pasture. If the purchaser have means to make 
the necessary improvements, or most of them, I think he would do 
well to settle on such lands. 



From my own experience, I think the statements of Mr. Wight, 
editor of the " Prairie Farmer," are as correct as can well be calculated. 
Spring wheat is rated a little below. But I have not paid extra atten- 
tion to the growing of oats, and not much to wheat. A great portion 
of the lands through which the Illinois Central Railroad passes I 
have not seen ; but judging from what I have, and the descriptions of 
those who are considered good judges, I should pronounce it an excel- 
lent tract. I will now state my reasons for selling out where I was. 
Not having any help of my own, I was obliged to do all myself, or hire, 
and to get good hands was often difficult and expensive. I therefore 
concluded to sell, which I did, for $30 per acre, (200 acres,) as I 
stated, and live a little easier. I have in another place there yet, 
seventeen and a half acres, and of an island seven and a half, both of 
which I have offers for, and think I shall sell them. 
Yours, respectively, 

H. H. HENDRICK. 



LETTER FROM W. R. HARRIS. 

Palmyra, Lee Co., III., Feb. 17, 1853. 
Hon. John Wilson : 

Sir, — In reply to your inquiries in regard to Illinois farming, I will 
state that I commenced here in the spring of 1847, with a capital of 
$700, with which I purchased twenty acres of timber and one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of prairie land. The first season, I broke up fifty- 
five acres, with a pair of horses and one yoke of oxen ; breaking two 
acres per day. The third year, I added eighty acres to my farm, and 
hired fifty acres broke, at $2 per acre. The fourth year, I hired ten 
acres more broke, at $2 25 per acre, which gave me one hundred and 
fifteen acres under cultivation. This is all that I have had under cul- 
tivation, and I have sold the product this year for over $2,000. I have 
now been engaged here about eight years, and my capital of $700 has 
increased to between |8,000 and $10,000. 

We generally plant corn from the first to the twenty-fifth of May. 
The usual crop of sod corn will about pay for breaking, and the cost 
of raising. It will hardly come off in time for sowing fall wheat, but 
the ground will be in good order for sowing spring wheat, which will 
probably yield from twenty-five to thirty bushels per acre. After the 
first season, the average crop of corn is sixty bushels (shelled) per acre. 
One man, with a pair of horses, will tend forty acres of corn, and do 



52 

it well. Our grain sells at the railroad stations, at about ten cents per 
sixty lbs. below the Chicago prices. The prairies are first-rate grass 
lands, and well adapted to the raising of all kinds of stock. Wages 
vary from $15 to $20 per month. 

Yours, &c., 

W. R. HARRIS. ' 



LETTER FROM JOSEPH C. ORTH. 

McCleary's Bluff, Wabash Co., III., | 
December 16, 1855. ) 

HoK. John Wilson, 

Land Cgmmissioner : 
Dear Sir, — I have been a resident of this county for the past twelve 
years, having emigrated from Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, and have 
devoted a large portion of the time since to agricultural pursuits. . 
From close observations during this period, I have become pretty 
thoroughly acquainted with Southern Illinois, and its relative advan- 
tages and disadvantages as compared with the northern part of the 
State. The soil upon the upland is not so rich in appearance as that 
in the northern prairies, being a grayish, calcareous clay, with an ad- 
mixture of vegetable mould ; but produces, with proper cultivation, very 
heavy crops of corn, often equal to those raised on the black alluvial 
soil skirting the streams. It is peculiarly adapted to the smaller grains, 
such as wheat, oats, barley, rye, and also the various meadow grasses. 
The culture of wheat has been of comparatively recent introduction into 
this section of the State ; and such has been the remarkable success of 
the experiment, that it is destined to become one of the principal staples 
of Southern Illinois. The average crops of Pennsylvania farmers, who 
have here turned their attention to its growth, have been about 23 
bushels per acre, of winter wheat. The grain is plurrip and heavy, often 
weighing as high as C6 lbs. to the bushel. In the fall of 1853, the 
premium priced wheat received at the St. Louis market was shipped 
from this section of the State. The variety principally grown is the 
white or blue-stem ; though the red varieties are equally sure and pro- 
ductive. An experienced Pennsylvania farmer, Mr. George Glick, who 
has resided here some years, last season travelled through Illinois, from 
here to Galena, and Avas led, from motives of curiosity, to examine the 



specimens of wlieat in the stacks, granaries and mills along his route. 
He came back fully satisfied that the best region in Illinois for raising 
•winter wheat is south of the National road. The berry is larger and 
heavier, and the plant not so likely to freeze out as on the extreme 
northern prairies, where the winter winds blow off the light porous 
soil from about the roots. The high character of Southern Illinois 
wheat is still more clearly demonstrated by the fact, that the specimens 
of wheat from Union, one of the southernmost counties, bore oti' the 
premium at the last State Fair at Chicago. 

Among the grasses, timothy and blue grass thrive well, and clover is 
particularly a sure crop, yielding two tons of hay and two bushels of 
seed per acre. I know from experience that our gray upland soil may 
be annually enriched by a proper rotation of crops, and by occasional- 
ly seeding down in clover. It is unnecessary to say any thing of the 
general productive capacity of this region, so far as Indian corn is con- 
cerned. Even with the careless cultivation usually bestowed upon it, 
the yield is equal to that of any portion of the Mississippi valley. A 
peculiar feature of Southern Illinois is, that the timber land and prai- 
rie illternate in tracts of convenient size, and the surface is more undu- 
lating, as a general thing, than in the north part of the State, thus 
affording facilities for convenient drainage. 

For stock raising, this region offers great advantages, as the winters 
are comparatively mild and short, and domestic animals consequently 
require less food, and can be raised with less expense than in a higher 
latitude. 

As to health, I candidly believe Southern Illinois will compare fa- 
vorably with any portion of the West. That scourge of the North, con- 
sumption, is almost unknown here. It is true that on the rich low- 
lands bordering the streams, bilious disorders prevail to some extent in 
the fall season, but on the uplands, good health may be enjoyed, with 
ordinary prudence. Diseases, the result of miasma, prevail in every 
new country south of the 44th parallel of latitude, when the virgin soil 
is first turned over and exposed to the atmosphere. It was so in the 
Genesee valley, in New York, and in the valley of the Miami, iu Ohio, 
and has been so in Illinois ; but the country becomes more healthful 
as it grows older. A great deal of ague and chills is attributable to 
errors in diet, to imprudent exposure, to uncomfortable dwelling-houses 
and to using well-water where it leaches through the soil, instead of 
flowing through veins in the rock. By occupying comfortable' tene- 
ments, avoiding needless exposure, eating suitable food, and using only 



54 

sweet, pure water for drinking and culinary purposes, as good health 
naay be enjoyed in Southern Illinois as anywhere in the Union. 

An unjust prejudice has hitherto prevailed against this section of the 
State. None of the great avenues of travel have, until recently, passed 
through it. It looks uninviting and sterile to those who only view it, 
from the steamers as they sweep around its borders on the Mississippi 
and Ohio rivers. Immense tracts of its fertile woodland and prairies 
were, until recently, in the hands of squatters, who had held it for 
years as public land, thus avoiding paying Government for the land, 
and taxes to the State. They purposely discouraged all those who 
wished to settle among them, and gave currency to all manner of evil 
reports concerning the country, to prevent strangers from entering 
them out at the United States' land oflSces. This class are, however, 
fast leaving, and giving place to better citizens. 

These causes, and others which might be enumerated, have con- 
spired to keep Southern Illinois in the back ground ; but through the 
influence of the railroads that are now penetrating it, its intrinsic ad- 
vantages must soon become known ; and the inducements it offers in 
soil, climate and convenience, either to the New Orleans, St. Louil or 
Chicago markets, will gradually become appreciated by the sagacious 
and enterprising emigrant farmer. 

Very respectfully yours, 

JOSEPH C. ORTH. 



LETTER FROM J. AMBROSE WIGHT, ESQ. 
editor of the prairie farmer. 

Hon. John Wilson : 

Dear Sir, — At your request I would state that, from an acquaintance 
with Illinois lands and Illinois farmers, of eighteen years, thirteen of 
which I have been engaged as editor of the Prairie Farmer, I am pre- 
pared to give the following as the rates of produce which may be had 
per acre, with ordinary culture : 

Winter wheat, . . . . .15 

Spring wheat, 10 

Indian corn, . . . . .40 

Oats, 40 

Potatoes, 100 to 200 " 

Grass (timothy and clover), , , 1^ to 3 tons. 



to 


25 bushels. 


to 


20 « 


to 


YO *' 


to 


80 « 



" Ordinary culture,'''' ou prairie lands, is not what is meant by the 
term in the Eastern or Middle States. It means, here, no manure ; and 
commonly but once, or, at most, twice ploughing, on perfectly smooth 
land, with long furrows, and no stones or obstructions ; when two acres 
per day is no hard job for one team. It is often but very poor cul- 
ture, with shallow ploughing, and without attention to weeds. 

I have known crops, not unfrequently, far greater than these, with 
but little variation in their treatment ; say forty to fifty bushels of win- 
ter wheat, sixty to eighty of oats, three hundred of potatoes, and one 
hundred of Indian corn. " Good culture^'' which means rotation, deep 
ploughing, farms well stocked, and some manure, applied at intervals 
of from three to five years, would, in good seasons, very often ap- 
proach these latter figures. 

Yom-s, truly, 

J. AMBROSE WIGHT. 

January 9, 1855. 



EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM H. BRADLEY, OF ROCKTON, 

ILLINOIS. 

" I plough the ground very deep, then mark it two feet each way ; 
then proceed to plant with a hand-planter, two rows at a time. With- 
in five or six days (just before the corn comes out of the ground), 
brush the ground over with a light drag with short wooden teeth, thus 
displacing the weeds on the surface, and leaving it as smooth as an 
onion bed. Within a fortnight after the corn gets up, go through it 
once in a row each way with a corn plough, and the work of cultiva- 
tion is done. Now is not this comparatively a cheap way of raising 
corn ? I shall have at least sixty busliels per acre this dry season, be- 
sides having double the usual amount of fodder. * * * Qne man 
will plant as fast with the machine as four will with hoes, and do the 
work much better than can be done with the hoe, as the machine is so 
nicely adjusted as to drop from three to five kernels, pricking them all 
within the space of an inch and a half square, thus giving a much bet- 
ter diance to run the plough close to the hill, than if the hill occupied 
from four to six inches square, as it does planted with a hoe." 



56 

The Illinois State Register gives an account of a 
crop of corn grown by J, N. Brown, Esq., of Sanga- 
mon County. His address is Berlin Post-office. 

" Mr, Brown broke up a field of forty acres, which had been in gras? 
eighteen years, and planted it in corn. The corn might have been put 
in hills a little thicker than usual, and the after culture was tolerably 
thorough. Some three or four weeks ago, nine acres of the land was 
measured off, being the poorest part of the field, and the corn gathered 
and husked, when it was found that the nine acres averaged ninety-five 
bushels an acre, which was satisfactory evidence (the poorest part of 
the field having been measured) that the whole forty acres would 
average full one hundred bushels to the acre. 

"This incident is mentioned as an evidence that the soil of Central 
Illinois does not deteriorate. Mr. Brown is of opinion, that by a proper 
rotation of crops, our soil will improve, and be made to produce richer 
yields than it does even now. * * * * 

" In a conversation we had with Mr. Brown, he assured us that the 
land had never been manured, and that if it had received as much 
attention as is usual in the other States, the crop would have been 
much larger." 



Extract from the Chicago '•'■Daily Democratic Press^^ 

ILLINOIS FARMS AND FARMERS. 

We find a letter in the Hunterton Gazette^ New Jer- 
sey, from a prominent citizen of that section who has 
been out West prospecting, with a view of locating 
among us. Speaking of farms and farmers in Illinois, 
he says : 

Let me cite a few facts which I know to be true, however large they 
may seem to be. Mr. Peter C. Rea, who resided twelve years in Rari- 
tan, near Clover Hill, and emigrated to Illinois, Fulton County, in the 
early part of this year, told me he had raised and sold more wheat since 
he had been there, than he had done in twelve years he had resided in 
Raritan. He simply raked together and burned the cornstalks in the 
spring, and without ploughing the ground, sowed it with spring wheat 



57 

and harrowed it in, and in a few months reaped a fine crop of spring 
wheat. He has besides on his farm, a good prospect for a crop of winter 
■wheat. I jite at his house some bread made of the flour from his spring 
wheat, and it was as white and as good as any I ever ate in New-Jersey. 
He also told me he should probably make as much money this year in 
Illinois, as he did in twelve years in New-Jersey. 

I saw a farmer in Peoria County, who lived on a rented farm of 
eighty acres, for which he paid S200 rent for the land, and $2G for the 
house ; he did all his work himself, except some help in planting corn ; 
had one team of horses, and after paying his rent, and supporting his 
family, would clear one thousand dollars this year. 

My friend, Mr. D. H. L. Sutphin, of Pike County, formerly of this 
county, had a field in with wheat, and harvested therefrom upwards of 
3,000 bushels. He hired every thing done, and if I remember correctly, 
had cleared over and above all expenses, about $2,000 by this operation. 
He introduced me to a gentleman by the name of Simpkins, in that 
county, who came there a few years ago, with nothing save his health 
and his hands. He was now farming, and he told us that he would 
sell this year produce from his farm amounting to between $17,000 and 
$18,000. I saw his hog-pen, containing 481 fat hogs, which would 
average 350 lbs. each. 

I am fearful that if I give you any larger facts than these, they may 
be doubted ; but one more before I close. I was in Morgan County, 
and near Jacksonville was the farm of, Mr. Funk, and I was told from a 
reliable source, that he sold that year $60,000 worth of cattle from ofi" 
his farm. I know instances where men have done even better than 
this, the past year, but it is needless to relate more particulars. If it 
would be proper, I could give you the names of men from this county, 
who were poor men when here, and probably would always have been 
poor men if they had remained here, who are now owning farms in Illi- 
nois, in some instances upwards of 300 acres, and getting rich fast. My 
opinion is, that there never was a more favorable time for emigrating to 
Illinois than the present. True, lands are greatly enhanced in value ; 
but prices of grain are yearly approximating New-York prices, and the 
good prairie land is better worth $100 per acre than our best New- 
Jersey is worth ^50. 



58 

LETTER FROM JOHN S. PEIRONNEL. 

Peku, Illinois, January 1, 1856. 
Hon, John Wilson, Chicago : 

Dear Sir, — According to your request, I send you a statement of th* 
corn I raised on a ten-acre lot you bad formerly sold the Rev. William 
Uhl, (less half acre for road,) which I bought last April for thirty dol- 
lars per acre, ($300,) which I thought, at the time, a high price. Since 
then I have bought 90 acres more, at much higher rates, and am sorry 
I cannot buy /nore. I have formerly lived in Susquehanna County, 
Pennsylvania, for thirty-three years, and bad a farm there, which I sold 
when coming West, two years since, for $41 25 per acre. Now, sir, I 
candidly say, I get more corn oft' the ten acres I give you a description 
of, than can be raised off" said farm in Pennsylvania, 60 acres. The 
nature of the prairie land is such, that ten acres can be cultivated easier 
than one in Pennsylvania. I market more grain this season than the 
whole township I came from in Pennsylvania, (Choconut;) and I can- 
didly say, if my old neighbors and friends knew the beauty of this vast 
Western country, Susquehanna County would again become a wilderness. 
I am, dear sir, your obt. servt., 

JNO. S. PEIRONNEL. 



STATEMENT 

Of the Expenditures, Receipts and Profits of the Farm of Wm. P. 

West, of Batavia, for 1853. 
Eds. Prairie Farmer: 

In compliance with the request of Mr. Thos. Judd, one of the committee 
on farming, I submit the following in relation to the cost of raising the various 
crops, viz.: 

Twenty-three Acres. 

1852, Dr. 
June. To breaking twenty-three acres, 3 inches deep, at $1 50 

per acre, , $34 50 

Aug. To 8 days' cross-ploughing, 4 inches deep, at $2, 16 00 

Sept. 1. To 46 bushels Soule's seed wheat, at 75 c. per bushel,. . 34 50 

do. To 2 days' work, sowing the same, at $1, 2 00 

do. To 6 days' work, harrowing, at $2 per day, 12 00 

do. To cost harvesting 23 acres, at $] 50 per acre, 34 50 

do. To threshing 690 bushels, at 8 c. per bushel, 55 20 

do. To hauling the same to market, at 2 c, 13 80 

$202 60 



m 

1852. Cr. 

By 30 bushels per acre, G90 bushels, at 95 c., S655 50 

Cost, 202 60 

Nett profits 8453 00 

Cost i)er acre, $8 80 

Nett profits per acre, 19 70 

Seventeen and a half Acres Wheat on Corn Ground. 
1852. Dr. 

Aug. 20, To sowing 1| days, at |1 per day, $1 50 

do. To 35 bushels Soule's seed wheat, at 75 c 26 25 

do. To 4 days' work, man. horse and shovel-plough, at $1 50, 6 00 

do. To 2 days' work, man, horse and small harrow, at ^1 50, 3 00 

do. To 6 days' work, hoeing in wheat around hills, 6 00 

do. Cost harvesting I7i acres, at %\ 50 per acre, 26 25 

do. To threshing 394 bushels, at 8 c. per bushel, 3152 

do. To carting 214 bushels to market, at 2 c. per bushel,, ... 4 28 

Total cost, $104 80 



1852. Cr. 

By 22.4 bushels per acre, 394 bushels. 

214 bushels, 'sold at 95 c. per bushel, $203 30 

180 bushels, sold at farm, at $1 per bushel, 180 00 

$383 30 
Cost 104 80 

Nett profits, 17* acres $278 50 

Cost per acre, , $5 93 

Net profits per acre, 15 91 

Twelve Acres of Oats. 

1853. Dr. 
April 15. To 5 days' ploughing, at $2, $10 00 

do. To 4 days' harrowing, at $2, 8 00 

do. To 36 bushels oats for seed, and 1 day's work at $1, 10 00 

do. To threshing, $42, harvesting, $18 60 00 

Total ^88 00 

1853. Cr. 

By 87i bushels per acre, making 1,050 bushels, at 25 c $262 50 

Cost, 88 00 

Nett profits - $174 50 

Cost per acre, $7 33 

Nett profits per acre, 14 54 



60 

Nine and a half Acres of Spring Wheat. 

1852. Dr. 
Sept. To 5 clays' ploughing, 8 inches deep, at ^2, $10 0© 

do. To 19 bushels Kio seed wheat, at 75 c, 14 25 

1853. 

March 25. 1 day's sowing the same, $1 00 

3 days' work, harrowing, at $2, 6 00 

Cost harvesting 9^ acres, at ^1 50 per acre, 14 25 

Cost tlireshing"228 bushels, at 8 c 18 24 

To carting the same to market, at 2 c, 4 56 

Total cost $68 30 

1853. Cr. 

By 9^ acres, 24 bushels per acre, 228 bushels, at $1 $228 00 

Cost, 68 30 

Nett profits $159 70 

Cost per acre, $7 20 

Nett profits per acre, 16 81 

Two and a quarter Acres of Winter Rye. 

1852. Dr. 

Sept. To ploughing 1 day, $2, -$2 00 

To 4 bu'shels seed, 50 c, 2 00 

To sowing and harrowing, one day, 2 00 

To harvesting the same, 3 75 

To threshing 50 bushels Rye, at 8 c, 4 00 

To carting the same to market, at 2 c, 1 00 

Total cost, $ 14 75 

1852. Cr. 

By 2i acres, 22 bushels and 7 qts. per acre, 50 bushels, at 50 c.,. . . $25 00 

Cost, 14 75 

Nett profits, $10 25 

Cost per acre, $6 56 

Nett profits per acre, 4 55 

Five and a half Acres of Barley. 

1853. Dr. 

April. To 2.i days' ploughing, at $2, $5 00 

To 12 bushels seed, at 40 c, 4 80 

To 1 day's work, sowing same, 1 00 

To li days' work, harrowing, $2, 3 00 

To harvesting 5^ acres, at $1 50, 8 25 

To carting 182 bushels to market, at 2 c, 3 64 

Threshing the same, at 8 c, 14 56 

Total cost, $40 25 



61 

1853. ' Cr. 

By 6^ acres, 33 bushels 3 qls. per acre, 182 bushels, at 40 c, $72 80 

<^'ost, 40 25 

Nett profits «^32 55 

Cost per acre, $7 30 

Nett profits per acre, 5 90 

Twenty-eight and a half Acres Corn Ground. 
One-half of this was fall ploughed, the balance Timothy sorl, brol<e May 
1st, 1852, 7 inches deep. Cost of tending about the same as fall ploughing. 

Dr. 

To 28^ acres ploughing, at ^1 per acre, $28 50 

To 5 days' harrowing, at $2, 10 00 

To 4 bushels seed corn, 75 c, 3 OO 

To 9.| days' j)lanting, 7s., 8 31 

To 26 days' cultivating corn, $1 25, 30 50 

To 12 days' hoeing, §8 c, ] 56 

To 57 days' husking. $1, 57 oo 

Shelling and marketing 1,710 bushels, at 4c., 68 40 

Total cost, , $215 27 

Cr. 

By 28^ acres, 60 bushels per acre, 1,710 bushels, at 50 c, $855 00 

Cost, 216 27 

Nett profits $638 73 

Cost per acre, $7 59 

Nett profits per acre, 22 41 

One Acre Potaloes. 
1853. Dr. 

To cost of raising, 10 00 

Cr. 
By 150 bushels potatoes, 25 c, $37 50 

Nett profits, $27 50 

One Hundred and Three Sheep. Dr. 

To cutting and stacking 25 tons hay, at $1, $25 00 

To feeding 30 bushels corn, 50 c, 15 00 

To feeding and salt, 10 00 

To washing and shearing sheep, and marketing wool, 10 00 

Total cost, $60 00 

Cr. 

By 103 fleeces, average 3 lbs. 10 oz., 373 lbs., at 46 c., $17] 58 

By 53 lambs, $1 25, 66 25 

$237 83 
Cost, 60 00 

Nett profits $177 83 



62 

Fifteen Head of Cattle and One Colt. 

Dr. 

To cost keeping to hay, $24 00 

To 25 bushels corn feed, 50 c, 12 50 

To labor and saU, 10 60 

Total cost, $47 00 

Cr. ' 

By growth on cattle and colt, $150 00 

Cost, 47 00 



Nett profits, $103 00 

Dr. To fatting one sow and four pigs, 80 bushels corn, at 50c.,. ... 40 00 
Cr. By 1,500 lbs. of pork, at 5c. per lb., 75 00 

Nett profits, $35 00 



25 bushels apples, $1, $25 00 

8 bushels peaches, $1, 8 00 

5 swarms bees, $5, 25 00 

50 lbs. honey, 1 2^ c, 6 25 

24 turkeys, 50 c * 12 00 

60 chickens, 12i c, 7 50 



$83 75 
Cost of keeping the above, 10 00 



Nett profits, $73 75 

Twenty-one Acres Timothy Seed. 

Dr. To harvesting, threshing and cleaning, $45 00 

Cr. By 84 bushels, at $3 per bushel, 1 68 00 



Nett profits, $123 00 

Recapititlalion. 

Cost of Growing. Net Profits. 

23 acres of wheat $202 50 $453 00 

17^ acres wheat, 104 80 278 50 

9| acres spring wheat,. 68 30 159 70 

2k acres rye, 14 75 10 25 

5i acres barley, 40 25 32 55 

12 acres oats 88 00 174 50 

28| acres corn, 216 27 638 73 

1 acre potatoes, 10 00 27 50 

103 sheep, 60 00 177 83 

Cattle and colt, 47 00 103 00 

Pork 40 00 35 00 

Apples, Peaches, Bees, Turkeys, &c., 10 00 73 75 

21 acres Timothy seed, 45 00 123 00 



Total, $946 87 $2,287 31 

Number of acres,- 240. Paying an interest on $158 88 per acre, at 6 perct. 

WM. P. WEST, Batavia, III. 



63 



statistics of Towns on Illinois Central Rail-Road, 1855. 



NAME. 


a 
o 
.a 


15 

|g 
c = 

1 = 

s 
•A 


3 

c c 

|i 

3 


1 _ 

"^ d 

a 


1 
§ 

"c CO 

1 c 

a"" 

3 
l2i 


^6 


ll 


1 

CO 

o 

%^ 
o 

e 

3 

fa 


n 

O 

ts 

c 

Hi 

e 

3 


C t. 
k. 3 

li 

!2§ 




Ms 


Thornton 

Chebanse 

Woosung, 

Kappa 


1853 
1864 
1855 
1853 
1854 
1853 
1855 
1853 
1854 
18.54 
1854 
1828 
1836 
1850 
1855 
1854 
1854 
1850 
1840 
1854 
1855 
1850 
1850 
1850 
1854 
1850 
1838 
1863 


no 


ne 


120 
25 
54 
16U 
150 
125 
100 

1800 
120 
600 
100 
400 
103 
350 
250 
175 
140 
800 
525 
600 
150 

1329 

256 

180 

16 

225 

5000 
160 


none 

76 

6 

4 

none 

26 

13 

none 

3 

2 

1 

none 

8 

200 

none 


21 
6 
8 
36 
60 
20 
10 

200 
20 
60 
26 

100 
21 

125 
32 
22 
30 

200 
89 
70 
40 

300 
35 
38 
1 
42 
1000 
15 


2 

*2 

*i 

1 

2 

1 

1 

2 
2 

1 

9 


2 


3 
2 
1 
2 
8 
4 
3 

25 
3 

11 
3 
3 
1 

10 
6 
3 
6 
3 
9 
4 
9 

30 
4 
2 

5 

75 
2 


1 

2 
2 
1 
1 
7 
2 

3 
2 
3 

2 
2 

i 

1 
1 

1 
2 
3 
1 
1 

i 

10 

1 


2 

2 
3 

i 

4 

1 


3 

4 

3 

1 

12 

's 

1 

5 
1 


8 

i 

2 


Ashley 


2 


Du Quoin, 

Loda 


2 



Mendota, 

Sandoval, 


8 
1 


Centralia, 

Onarga 


3 

3 


Council Hill 

Hudson, 


300 

25 

25 

none 

145 

65 

none 

16 

14 

3 

none 

18 

1400 

none 


2 


"Warren, 

Pana 


3 
2 


Manteno 


1 


Apple River, 

Monee, 


2 


Rich view, 

De Soto 


5 
1 


Mattoon 

Amboy, 


1 
4 


Scales Mound 

Toniea 


1 


Pesotum, 




Eleroy, 


1 


Freeport, 

Panola, 


18 


W. Urbana; 

Urbana, 


1854 

1835 
1839 
1853 
1853 
1854 
1829 
1852 
1855 
1832 
1838 
1820 
1853 
1854 
1855 


500 
200 

none 
5 

none 
600 

none 

2200 

50 

360 

none 


416 

1145 

3500 
350 
350 
100 

2200 

800 

90 

5500 
150 

1000 

2500 

110 

20 


not 
givn 

25 

none 

1 

none 

176 

none 

" 

400 

12 

60 

none 


not 
givn 

800 
90 
66 
12 

600 

60 

13 

1540 

40 

125 

400 

10 

5 


2 

2 
4 
2 
1 

6 

1 

10 
1 
4 
4 


17 


10 

22 

60 

6 

5 

1 

30 

7 

2 

26 

2 

9 

45 

3 


2 

4 
4 
2 
1 
1 
4 
2 
1 
8 
2 
4 
3 
2 


1 
2 

2 
1 
2 
4 

*7 
2 
2 
3 
2 


3 

5 

5 

16 

I9 
5 

8 

1 
3 


1 
6 


La Salle 


10 


Carbondale, 

Lena, 


2 
1 


Pulaski 




Decatur 


11 


Nora, 


?, 


Forreston, 

Bloomington 

Calumet 

Vandalia, 

Kankakee, 

Ullin 


21 

4 
8 


Patoka, 





64 







'2 


IS 


1 


S 




o o5 


n 


«5 


^ m 








■o 

1 





"in 


o 


pro 




II 


o 


o 
W 




«• 




NAME. 


a 

S 

1 


Is 

3 


3 


r 




S 


0, j3 

IS 


= 1 


O 

e 

3 


o 

u 

B 






•^1 
3 J3 

8Ph 






^ 


'A 


^ 


'A 




;z;"' 


',< 


» 






♦ 


"Wapella 


1853 


none 


276 


none 


35 


, . 


, , 


5 


1 


, , 




1 


Makarida 


1854 


14 


50 


6 


15 






1 


, . 




. . 




Dunleith, 


1853 


6 


700 


1 


175 


1 


2 


6 


1 


1 




2 


Polo 


1854 
1863 
1855 


none 

300 

none 


550 

1300 

185 


none 

15 

none 


130 

150 

38 


1 

2 

1 


1 

1 
1 


18 

25 

3 


2 
3 
1 


"i 




3 




3 


Sublette, 


1 


Tacusa 


1855 
1853 




40 
300 




6 

40 


'i 


1 


1 

7 


'2 


1 


2 




Moawequa 


2 


Oconee 


1855 
1854 
1854 
1853 
1854 


10 
none 


70 
28 
70 
20 
50 


1 
none 


10 
3 

15 
5 

10 


•• 


1 
1 


2 

"i 


i 


2 


•• 


1 


Macon 




Minonk, 




Richton, 




Villa Ridge, 




Dixon, 


1839 
1854 


540 
none 


3200 
48 


none 


*io 


6 


3 


43 
3 


6 

1 


2 


3 


1 


Tamaroa, 




Jonesbovo, 


1818 


584 


808 


113 


162 


2 


2 


13 


3 


1 


3 


7 


Clinton 


1845 


800 


1500 


300 


500 


2 


3 


20 


3 


1 




10 



At some of these stations small settlements existed before the town was organ- 
ized, which accounts for population appearing on the statement before the date 
given for the starting of the town. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 752 026 8 



fr^'>i 





